Ed, Edd & Eddy A Weekend Alone
by Linken88
Summary: Ed, Edd and Eddy have been afraid of the Kanker sisters ever since they met them. But after a turn of events Edd finds himself locked inside Peach Creak High over the weekend with Marie Kanker. Will Edd make it through the weekend unsaved? Or will something unexpected happen from the two teens spending a weekend alone together and what else could come about from this weekend alone?
1. Chapter 1: Friday

The alarm goes off at seven AM like it does every morning. Edd (Also known as Double Dee to everyone other than his parents) reaches over and turns it off like he does every day. But today isn't any ordinary day, it is Friday. And unlike the rest of his friends in the cul-de-sack who look forward to the weekend. Edd hates Friday. For you see he loves school, the smell of the floor wax, the excitement he gets from a surprised test and the enjoyment he gets from leaning.

Normally Edd wouldn't be looking forward to Friday and the two days he'd have to endure without education. But not this time, Edd had been invited to attend a weekend science lecture from the world renowned Doctor Banner as part of his Junior Scientist Club. A trip he has been looking forward to for a month.

Edd pulls off his covers and swings his legs over the edge of the bed and into his slippers in one fluid motion. He stands up and turns around to make his bed and once he is satisfied with his work he leaves his bedroom and enters the bathroom. Inside the bathroom he turns on the light and looks at himself in the mirror as his sixteen year old self looked back at him. He had bags under his eyes, a very common occurrence from the long nights he tends to have, usually from being up reading or working on one of his various project. His hair that he has hated for as long as he can remember was a big mess. His parents love his jet black hair and rarely let him get it cut, so he had resorted to keeping it hidden under his signature black ski cap head in place with bob pins. He looks away from the mirror and turns to the shower and prepares for his morning washing. "This is going to be a good day, I can feel it." He says as he climbs into the shower.

Across the cul-de-sack and past the construction site (that never seems to have any work being done) lies the tailor park where three sisters have been up for almost an hour already working on a plan to capture Edd and his two best friends.

"Are you sure this is going to work Lee?" the youngest of the three sisters asks her oldest sister. Her platinum blond hair tied behind her head to keep it out of the way.

"Trust me May, those Ed's can never resist a jawbreaker. Now keep drilling." Lee says to her sister who goes back to drilling into a jawbreaker with a power drill.

"That part I get, but will theses sleeping pills really be enough to knock them out?" Marie the middle sister asks as she looks at a bottle of pills lifting away her blue hair out of her eye to read the back of the bottle.

"Mom uses theses all the time when she needs to get to sleep quickly. Now quit yacking, we have work to get done if we want those Ed's to be all ours this weekend." The three sisters giggle together at the idea of having the three boys trapped for the next few days and at the mercy of the sisters.

Back at Edd's house the teenager was finishing getting dressed for school. He has dawned a while dress shirt and a black tie along with a pair of slightly failed jeans like he does for every day of school. After hiding his hair under his hat he makes his way down stairs for breakfast. He pours himself a bowl of cereal and when he is half way done with it there is a knock on the front door. He sets his spoon down next to his bowl and walks over to the door.

"Good morning Ed, good morning Eddy." He says opening the door to let his two best friends into his home.

"Hi ya Double Dee." Ed says walking into the house. Ed was in his standard dress ware of a dark green jacket, striped shirt and blue jeans.

"Hey Sock Head." Eddy says following Ed into the house. Eddy had on a pair of sunglasses even though the sun had not risen high enough for them to be needed. Along with his normal yellow shirt and stone washed jeans.

Edd returns to the kitchen to finish his cereal while he chatted with his friends before they leave so school. "So did you gentlemen finish your homework for today?" Edd asked his friends as he sits down.

"Yes sir Double Dee! I read all of my new comic book last night." Ed says smiling from ear to ear.

"No Ed, you were supposed to read from your English book and answer the questions at the end of the chapter." Edd says disappointed in his friend.

"Yeah, Ed, even I did this one." Eddy says taking an apple from the bowl of fruit on the counter and takes a bite from it.

"Honestly Ed, if you don't take your school work seriously you will eventually be left behind and have to repeat a grade." Edd says taking a bite of his cereal.

The boys chant for a few more minutes as Edd finishes his breakfast and after he rinses out his bowl and sets it down on the counter the three boys leave his house. The walk to school was quick and enjoyable, spring was in the air and the weather couldn't be more prefect for the walk. When they reached the school they find the rest of their friends hanging around Kevin's car. After the event with Eddy's older brother the Ed's and the others had finally been able to become friends.

"Hey ya Kev." Eddy says as she high fives Kevin who is leaning against his car with an arm around Nazz. Kevin Still wears his red hat but now wears a Lettermen jacket and black pants. Him and Nazz have been dating for a while now and have been almost inseparable. She has gone a lot more girly over the last few years. Her hair has grown out and she almost always has a skirt on and a top matching its color, todays color was dark green.

"Hey Ed's." He says to the three of them. "Eddy you ready for tryouts next week?"

"Heck yeah, I've been hitting the gym every day after school to get ready." Eddy says answering his question.

"Hi ya boys." Three voices say in sync. The Ed's freeze and slowly turn to look that the source of the voices. They knew right away who it was but they still had to face there tormenters.

The Kanker sisters stand several parking spaces away smiling at the three boys. Lee stood between her two sisters. Her red curly hair still hanging over her eyes which matches the red tank top she is wearing that is showing off her pink belt (that all three of them are wearing) that is holding up her faded blue jeans.

To her right was May who still had her blond hair pulled back behind her head. She was wearing a gray sweatshirt and red basketball shorts on which was very similar to what she use to ware back when the Ed's were out casted.

On the opposite side of Lee stood the middle Kanker Marie. She had a skull beret in her blue hair on the left side of her head. She has on a black shirt with a white skull on it and its sleeves ripped off and a dirty green colored mini skirt.

"Kanker's." Eddy says staring down the girls. The boys expected the sisters to come over to them and start the day off tormenting them. But they didn't, they just stood there staring at the Ed's smiling.

"What do you three want?" Nazz asks from beside Kevin.

"We just want to say good morning to our boyfriends." Lee says glaring at Nazz.

"We are not your boyfriends Lee, and we never will be." Eddy says.

"Don't you just love it when they try and deny their feelings for us?" Marie says.

"Yeah, that Big Ed is just to die for." May says giving Ed a doe eyed look.

Lee elbows May back into reality. "Well bye bye boys, well see you around." She says as the three of them blow a kiss to their respective Ed. They turn and walk towards the school building.

"Well that was unlike them. I was sure they would have chased us all the way to homeroom." Edd says turning back to the others.

"They are planning something, I can feel it." Eddy says glaring over his shoulder at where the three girls had been standing.

"All I feel is my buttered toast in my pocket Eddy!" Ed says with his standard dumfounded look on his face.

"You think the Kanker's are up to something Eddy?" Jonny asks as he hides Plank inside his bag. Jonny looked exactly like he did when they were younger, white t-shirt and blue jeans.

"I'd bet my life savings on it Jonny."

"Come now Eddy. Maybe they needed to finish up some school work, or talk to a teacher. Surly they are not concocting a plan against us." Edd says giving the girls the benefit of the doubt as he does for everyone.

"You're too forgiving Double Dee." Eddy says.

Little did they know that the Kanker sisters were in fact planning something and as the girls entered the building May questioned her older sister's plan.

"Are you sure we couldn't have gone for a kiss?"

"Yes May, we need to let them let their guard down for this to work." Lee says as they walked down the hall. "Do you two remember the plan?" She asks when the reach her locker.

"We leave the Ed's alone all day letting them feel safe." May says.

"And we leave the Jawbreakers at their usual lunch table for them to find." Marie says.

"And then when they fall asleep in gym, we sneak them off the school grounds and back to the trailer." Lee says finishing the recap of the plan. The sisters giggle together again at their plan.

"Ok, well keep them here in my locker until lunch." Lee says taking the bag that has the Jawbreakers in it out of her back pack.

"I'm still unsure about this plan Lee." May says as Lee puts the bag into her locker.

"It will work May." Lee says closing her locker. "By this time tomorrow those Ed's will be all ours."

The first half of the day unfolded like it did every day. Ed and Eddy barely paying attention to the teacher and Edd taking very detailed notes on everything the teachers would say. After their fourth period English class the three Ed's are walking down the hall to the lunch room.

"I'm going to miss you while you are gone Double Dee." Ed says sounding sad.

"It's just for one weekend Ed, I'm sure you will be ok without me." Edd says reassuring his friend. "And you can take your mind off of it by going with Eddy on his job hunt."

"There are no cool jobs out there." Eddy says kicking a fake rock as they walked.

"You can't expect to get a "cool job" for your first job Eddy. We all have to start some ware."

"Says the guy that has a fun job."

"I assure you Eddy, working at the Radio Shack in the mall is anything but fun." Edd says as they enter the Lunch room. "The only people that seem to come in are the electronically illiterate. What has happened to the people of this world when they don't know the difference between a Coax cable and a HDMI cable?" He says holding his arms in the air.

"Double Dee calm down man." Eddy says as his friend is over reacting.

"Sorry Eddy." Edd says.

"Hey guys look!" Ed says pointing at the table the three Ed's usually sit at. On the table sat a brown box. And when the boys approached it they saw that it had the words "To Ed, Edd and Eddy. From your friends." Written on it.

"I wonder who it is from?" Edd says examining the box.

Eddy opens the box and his face lights up. "Guy! Look! Jawbreakers!" He says pulling one out.

"Alright Eddy!" Ed says taking one out of the box himself.

"Gentlemen I must protest us eating these. They could be contaminated with an unknown element. You could get sick or contract a deadly virus!" Edd says warning his friends not to eat the Jawbreakers.

"Relax Double Dee." Eddy says as he puts one into his mouth.

Ed follows Eddy and puts one in his mouth as well. "They seem good to me Double Dee." Before Edd could protest again Ed took the last jawbreaker out of the box and shoves it into Edd's mouth. "See Double Dee, they are good."

Edd's thoughts were scramble when he tasted the Jawbreaker. The boy's love these candy's above all other foods.

Across the lunch room the Kanker sisters sat watching the Ed's. "I told you they would fall for it, they can never resist a jawbreaker." Lee says smiling.

"And now we play the waiting game." Marie says leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs.

The Ed's enjoyed the jawbreakers throughout all of the lunch period and finished them just before they walked into the gym locker for their least favorite class. The Ed's hated Gym because none of their other friends were in it with them and all three Kanker's are in it and would usually find some way to torment them. But like this morning the Kanker's just greeted the three boys and left them alone.

"Ok, so they should start feeling groggy half way through the class, that's when we offer to take them to the nurse and that's when we take them away." Lee says to her sisters in a huddle.

But the boys never got sleepy, they just partook in the gym activities in their own ways. Ed just rand around the guy laughing, Edd tried to participate but was out of breath and sweating profusely. Eddy was the only one that was actually partaking in the game of dodge ball. When the teacher blows his whistle signaling for the end of the class the boys go off to the boys locker room and the girls to theirs.

"What the hell? Why didn't it work?" Lee asks as they entered the locker room

"I don't know Lee. You sure those were the pills mom takes to sleep?" Marie asks looking over to May.

"Yes, she gave them to me herself." May says.

"What did mom say exactly when she game them to you?" Marie asks as she starts changing.

"She said to "Get rid of these for me" last week as she was getting ready for work."

"Get rid of these? That sounds like she wanted you to throw them away. They were probably out of date and didn't work anymore." Lee says.

"Crud, now what do we do Lee?" Marie asks her older sister.

"We go to plan B. We catch them the old fashion way." Lee says as she finishes changing back into her street cloths.

The girl's decided to split up the Ed's and capture them individually. They ditched there last class to wait by the front doors of the school for the boys.

"Ok girls, when we see them chase them into a corner and take them back home." Lee says to her sisters as they lean up against the wall next to the door.

"Look, here they come." May says pointing down the hall at their targets. "Best of luck to the both of ya."

"Today has been a great day, the Kanker's left us alone, we got free jawbreakers and we got to play dodge ball in gym. Face it boys, today was one in a million." Eddy says grabbing his friends around the shoulder.

"I have to agree Eddy, this was a great start to what I'm sure is going to be a fantastic weekend for myself."

"Um eddy…" Ed says stopping and pointing in front of him.

"What is it Ed… Oh crap." Eddy says when he sees the Kanker's next to the door.

"What do we do Eddy?" Ed asks as he starts to panic.

"Maybe they will let us pass?" Edd says being the optimist that he is.

"I don't think so Double Dee, they are coming this way." Ed says still pointing at the girls.

The girls were in fact walking towards the boys and Eddy and Edd started to panic alongside Ed.

"Hi ya boys, did you miss us today?" Lee asks when she was in ear shot of the boys.

"Yeah like we'd miss the biggest pain in our backsides." Eddy says to Lee.

"Aww and even after we gave you a present your still like this." Marie says looking at Edd with a wicked look.

"Wait, you left those for us? What did you do to them?" Eddy asked Lee with anger on his face.

"Kiss me and I'll tell ya you big lug." Lee says leaning down to Eddy.

"I'd rather suck and egg." Eddy says back to her.

"I love it when you walk dirty Eddy." Lee stands back up strait and looks to her sisters. "Girls, I think it's time we claimed our prizes."

"It's about damn time." Marie says cracking her knuckles.

"Uh oh, Eddy I think we should start running." Edd says as he watches the Kanker's.

"Good, I love a good chase." May says smiling at the Ed's.

The sisters start puckering their lips at the Ed's.

"Run Boy!" Eddy yells as he turns and takes off down the hall.

"Run away! Run away!" Ed says falling Eddy.

"Let's get them May." Lee says as she runs after Eddy. May just laughs as she follows her older sister.

"Now Marie, can't we talk about this?" Edd says as he starts to back away from the blue haired Kanker. "I happen to have prior engagements to attend to after school."

"Aww Muffin, you don't want to spend time with your girlfriend?" Marie asks as she matches his step.

"As Eddy had mentioned this morning. We are not in any sort of relationship, and while I am sure you would be an interesting person to hold a conversation with I do not have the time to engage in one."

"Ooo, I just love it when you use big works Double Dee." Marie says picking up her passé.

"Marie I must insist that you stop your advance in my direction."

"Oh come on Oven Mitt, you know you want to kiss me."

"No thank you!" Edd says as he turns and runs away from Marie.

Marie giggles as she follows Edd down the hall but takes a detour in attempt to cut him off. Edd being the very un athletic person that he is runs as fast as he can but in reality it's not much faster than jogging speed so Marie was easily able to get in front of him. Edd was putting all of his effort into running and not looking in front of him. Had he been paying attention he would have seen Marie appear in front of him and her opening a door in the hall way that stood ajar. Marie grabs Edd as he is running by and using his own momentum against him she throws him into the room and follows him in slamming the door behind her.

The room turned out to be nothing more than a broom closet the janitors use to keep tools and supplies in. Edd was sitting with his back to the far wall a little dazed and confused after what had just happened.

"You should have known that running away was useless Double Dee. I always catch you." Marie says taking a step to Edd.

"Marie please, I have a very important appointment to be at. A once in a life time opportunity for me." Edd says trying to reason with his stalker.

Marie grabs Edd's feet and pulls him down onto his back and she sits on his stomach pinning him to the ground. "Trust me Muffin, THIS is going to be a much more enjoyable experience for you." She grabs his hands and holds them to the floor over his head and starts forcing kisses all over his face and neck like she dose whenever he is captured by the Kanker's.

'No no no no! I must get away or I will miss the bus!' Edd thinks as he closes his eyes trying to hide from what is happening to him. He starts to struggle and sweat under Marie's assault and the sweat on his arms starts to loosen Marie's grip on him. He keeps struggling and eventually his arms break free of her grasp and he is able to get out from under her.

"Ooo, do you wana be on top?" Marie asks from her spot on the floor.

"No never!" Edd says standing up. "Good bye Marie please don't ever do this again." He says being polite to her even though he may have miss his ride because of her. He turns to run out the door again not watching where he is going.

"Edd watch out!" Marie yells as she holds out her hand and up. But it was too late, right as she was standing up Edd hits his head on the low hanging light and falls to the ground.

"Edd. Are you ok?" Marie asks kneeling down next to him the first time she's ever been fully concerned for his wellbeing.

Edd who is seeing stars only says; "Night night mommy." And passes out.

"Shit, Edd wake up." Marie says shaking the unconscious boy. "Come on brain boy wake up." But it was no good, Edd was out cold. "Ok, I need to find some help." Marie says standing up and going to the door. As she turned the handle and pushed the door but it didn't budge. She glares then slams into it with her shoulder but again it didn't move. "Shit, what am I going to do now?"

Else ware in the school Eddy and Ed are still on the run from the other two Kanker sisters.

"Quick Ed, the back door!" Eddy yells at his friend and points at the door as they run down the hall.

"Ok Eddy." Ed says and the two of them hit the door and start running towards the parking lot.

"You can't hide from us boys." Lee says as her and May come out of the door.

"Yeah Big Ed, we are going to get you both." May says following behind her sister.

The boys get to the parking lot and start looking around. "What now Eddy?" Ed asks as the two look around for their next move.

Before Eddy could answer Kevin pulls up next to them and Nazz leans out the front passenger window; "Get in guys." She yells at them.

The boys quickly run to the car and Eddy pulls open the door and Ed jumps in followed by Eddy.

"Thanks Kevin, we owe you one." Eddy says as he puts on his seat belt as Kevin puts the car in gear and starts down the road.

"You guys can just buy me a pizza some time to pay us back for saving you." Kevin says not looking back at the two in his back seat.

"Yeah, we couldn't just leave you at the mercy of those Kanker's. Wait, where is Double Dee?" Nazz asks turning around in her seat to look at the two Ed's.

"He didn't follow us, I just assumed he went his own way." Eddy says.

"Oh no Eddy! What if Marie got him!?" Ed says starting to worry over his friend.

"Relax Ed, he probably just ran for his bus to his lame science thing." Eddy says leaning back in his seat.

While this was going on Lee and May are standing where Ed and Eddy had gotten into Kevin's car.

"That's no fair Lee, we almost had them." May says looking sad.

"Damn that Kevin and Nazz, always spoiling our fun. Come on lets go see if Marie at least got Double Dee." Lee says turning around to walk back into the school building.

But they couldn't find their sister any ware in the building and they eventually had to leave assuming that she was successful and had Edd back at the trailer. But in fact she was still stuck in the closest with an unconscious Edd.

Marie had tried several more times to get the door open but it was to no avail. It was stuck shut and it wasn't moving. Marie was sitting on the floor beside Edd with her legs crossed and her chin resting in her hands. She had put his messenger bag under his head as a makeshift pillow.

"What are we going to do Double Dee?" Marie says to Edd knowing full well that he won't answer. She's already tried to wake him several times over the past two hours that the have been stuck but he wouldn't wake so she just accepted that he will wake up on his own.

"Uhhhh..." Edd says as he starts to finally wake.

Marie jumps to kneeling next to him. "Edd, are you awake?" She asks.

"Yes mother I." Edd started to say, but when he opened his eyes and sees Marie looking over him he jumps up to a sitting position and backs away into the corner of the room. "Marie what did you do to me? Why am I in this room with you? And why dose my head hurt?" He puts his head into his hands from the pain.

"You don't remember?" Marie asks him.

"Oh course I do, I was just hoping that it wasn't what really what happened to me!" Edd says looking up at her.

"I'm sorry Double Dee, I didn't want to hurt you." Marie says crawling over to him.

"Then why did you trap me in here with you and then proceeded to have your way with me?" Edd snaps at her.

"I I'm sorry Double Dee, it was just meant to be some harmless fun." Marie says stopping and sitting still a good distance away from him.

"Fun? You call being chased around the school and then being trapped by the person that scares you more than anything fun?!" Edd says looking at her with anger on his face.

"I scare you more than anything?" Marie says surprised by what he said. She didn't think that he feared her that much.

"You and your sisters torment me and my friends on a daily basses. If someone were to constantly invade your comfort zone for the past four years you too would hate them." He glares at her.

Marie was in complete shock, Edd has never said that he hates her before. She felt heartbroken that the boy she likes just said he hates her.

Marie looks down at the ground; "I'm really sorry Double Dee, never wanted you to hate." She feels tears come to her eyes.

Edd see Marie tear up. "Marie, are you ok?" He asks losing the anger he just had.

"I'm Fine." She says sharply turning away from him.

Edd starts to crawl over to her. "Marie I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. It was the head wound talking not me."

She whipped her eyes smudging her eye liner and looks around to him. "You mean it?"

"Yes, while I do not enjoy your actions. I could never hate you for it." Edd says smiling at her.

Marie wipes her eyes again as she turned back to face him. She looked him in the eyes and sees the sincerity in them. She jumps at him and hugs him. "Edd I am so sorry! I never thought that we bothered you boys THAT much. We were just doing what Lee said to do to get you guys to like us." Marie says confessing to Edd.

"It's quite alright, now why are we still in here this broom closet?" Edd asks ignoring her little confession of why she does what she does.

"The door is stuck, I couldn't get it opened." May says letting go of him.

"Humm let me take a look." Edd says getting up from the floor and walking over to the door. He looks over the door examining the lock and the hinges of the door all while saying "Humm". After a minute of looking it over a light goes off in his head. "Ah ha!" He says and starts looking around the closet for the tools he needs. He looks trough the shelves and finds a putty knife and some extra strength graffiti remover.

"This should do the trick." he says returning to the door with the tools in hand.

"What are you going to do?" Marie asks curios as to how the items in Edd's hand will help to free them.

"Well Marie it appears that the door has been improperly painted several times over the years and due to all the extra layers of paint, and probably the wood swelling as well, the door just became too big for the frame and when it was slammed shut it became quite literally jammed shut." Edd says as he starts to unscrewed the cap off the graffiti remover. "And this graffiti remover should allow me to loosen the paint to where we will be able to open the door." Edd to go to work poring a small stream of the remover on the long edge of the door letting it run all the way to the floor and uses the putty knife to get it into the space between the door and frame. He repeats this action over and over again slowly weakening the paint.

It takes several minutes for Edd's plan to work all the while Marie just stat on the floor in silence as Edd worked. Course that didn't stop her from enjoying the view of "her man" working to free them from her own trap. 'Wow, Double Dee is really smart on top of being really cutie' Marie thinks as she watches him work with a look of pure focus on his face.

"Alright, that should do it. Marie will you be kind enough to help me with this part? My lack of physical strength will make this part undoable by myself." Edd asks turning to look at Marie.

"Um sure, what do you need me to do?" She asks getting up off the floor.

"I just need you to push on the door with me." He says taking ahold of the door knob and turning it.

"Ok, I can do that." She stands right behind him resisting her Kanker urge to tease him.

"On the count of three we hit the door, ready?"

"Ready."

"One... two... Three." And on the count of three the two teenagers hit the door with their combined strength and it swings open with them stumbling out of the closest.

"Ta da." Edd says boasting after regaining his composer.

"I knew you could do it Double Dee. Now let's get out of... Hey where is everybody?" Marie says looking around the school hall way and seeing that there is no one around.

"How long where we in there?" Edd asks her as he looks around the school himself.

"I don't know, I don't own a watch."

Edd pulls out his pocket watch his parents had given him for getting a perfect final report card for freshmen year. "Oh my lord! School had ended almost three hours ago." Edd says when he sees that his clock was approaching six thirty in the evening. "I missed my bus." He says falling to the ground sitting on his knees.

"I'm sorry Double Dee, it's not that far to walk back to the cul-de-sack." Marie says looking down at him.

"It's not that, I was scheduled to attend a weekend science lecture with my Junior Scientists Club and they have most certainly already left for the city by now." He says with disappointment in his voice.

Marie started to feel guilty for him missing his event even though her and her sisters were planning on imprisoning him and his two best friends for the weekend. "Will there be another one?" She asks as she sits down in front of him.

"Sadly no there won't be, it was a rare assurance and I even worked several extra hours to earn enough extra income to pay for the trip."

"Double Dee..." was all Marie could think to say, the look of disappointment on his face was the saddest thing she's ever seen. She reaches her hand out to him but takes it back thinking he didn't want to be touched at the moment.

He takes a deep breath to regain his thoughts. "Ok let's leave the school grounds before we are caught being in here after hours." He says standing up and pushing his grief to the back of his mind.

Marie stands and they take a few steps towards the door then Edd stops. "Oh my bag!" He turns and reenters the closet and grabs his bag off the floor where it still laid.

When they got to the door Edd pulls the handle down. But the door doesn't open. He tries again and then the other one whit it didn't work. "Oh dear. It appears to be locked from the outside." He says as he tries the second door again.

"Don't you have a cell phone? Call someone." Marie asks him.

"It's against the rules to have them with us so I leave it at home." Edd says answering her question.

"Ok, well I could break a window and we could get out that way." Marie suggests looking at the window on the wall.

"Havens no! Breaking a window is extremely against the rules!" Edd says shocked that she suggested him to break a rule.

"Then what? We stay here in the school till someone comes on Monday morning?" Marie asks putting her hands on her hips giving him a questioning look.

"I'm sure someone will come by before then, but for now we will have to make due in the school." Edd says trying to reassure her that they will not have to spend the next two days in the school. "What about your sisters? Surely they will come looking for you or call the authorities when you don't come home soon."

"You don't know my sisters very well, they won't care, they will think I just suck off to go to a concert or something." Marie says looking away with a look of anger on her face.

"I had no idea Marie." Edd says feeling a little sad for her.

"Its fine, so what are we going to do for food if we are going to be stuck in here?" She asks looking back at him.

"Well the cafeteria is probably locked so that's out. I know that there is vending machine in the teachers' lounge, we could see if it is open." Edd says scratching his chin thinking.

"Lead the way Mr. Smarty-pants." Marie says smiling and standing to the side to let him pass in front of her.

Edd lets out a small giggle at the name she just called him and walked past her towards the teachers' lounge. They walk in silence down the hall to the lounge. Edd was thinking of how much it stinks that he is missing the bus to his weekend lecture and how he may have to stay in the school with Marie Kanker, a girl that he normally would avoid at all costs. Marie on the other had saw this weekend trapped in the school as an opportunity to changed Edd's option on her. She doubted that she could make him fall for her but maybe with a little luck she could get him to see her as a friend and to hopefully sow the seeds of something more.

They reached the teachers' lounge and just as Edd had suspected the door was also locked. "Well this is not good." He says turning the locked door knob.

"How are we going to get in? I'm getting really hungry." Marie says looking in to the room through the small window on the door. "Could you pick the lock?" She asks looking to Edd.

"I could, but that is also against the rules Marie."

"This is more important than some damn rule Double Dee, if you don't want to do it the easy way I'll just do it my way and bust out the window." She says knocking on the window with her knuckles.

"Fine fine Marie, but don't expect this to be a recurring event." Edd says as he reached up under his hat and pulls out one of the bobby pins holding his hair in place. He kneels down in front of the door and starts to bend the pin in to a needed shape and sticks it into the lock.

Marie having never seen what is under Edd's hat was curious as to why he had a bob pin under it. "Double Dee why do you have." She started to ask but he cut her off with a "Shhhh".

"Please can I have some quite while I work? This is very tricky." He says looking up to her. Marie decides to hold her question till later and leans against the lockers next to the door in silence to let him work.

It takes Edd a few minutes of working to finally get the lock to pop open and with a turn of the knob and a push he opens the door. "There we go." He says getting up from the floor.

"Good job Double Dee." Marie says. She pecks him on the cheek with a little kiss as she walks into the room. Edd was not expecting the kiss and lost his train of thought, he shakes his head and follows her into the room.

Inside the room is the vending machine they are looking for as well as a small couch with a blanket on it and a circular table with three chairs around it.

"Yay food!" Marie says looking at the rows of junk food inside the machine. It dawns on Marie that she has no money to buy any of it and she knows that Edd would not let her brake it to get at the food. "Umm Double Dee, do you happen to have some cash you could lend me so I could get something to eat? I'll pay you back when I can." She asks looking from the machine to him.

"Do not worry, as a gentleman it is expected to purchase sustenance for a lady when she cannot provide some for herself." Edd say as he pulls out his leather wallet and removes several bills.

"Thank you Double Dee, that is really nice of you." Marie says smiling at him.

"No thanks needed Marie, it is all part of the gentlemen's code." He says as he sticks one of the bills into the vending machine and pushes a couple of buttons to make his choice.

"There is a gentlemen's code?" She asks him as he feeds another bill into the machine.

"I cannot say for curtain if there is an official written code book or not, but it is something my father would say when he'd talk to be about the do's and don'ts of being polite to others." he says as he makes his fourth selection of food and starts to retrieve them from the tray on the bottom of the machine. Edd stands up and hands her one of the two packages of the peanut butter cracker sandwiches as well as one of the bags of little oatmeal cookies (theses being the healthiest items in the vending machine).

"Thanks, that is very noble of you Double Dee. Most of the guys in this school are just rude pigs." Marie says taking the food from him and flipping a chair from the table around before sitting in it with her arms resting on the back of it.

"I'm sure not all of them are, though I do have to agree that most of them are not up to the standers my parents have raised me to." He says sitting down at the table himself and opening his crackers.

"Always looking for the bright light in the world aren't you?" She asks ripping open her cookies.

"Someone has to keep humanity looking good." He says smiling.

"Did you just make a joke? Oh my god I've never heard you make a joke before Double Dee."

"Well this is the longest we have talked to each other." Edd says in between bites.

"Yeah, it's nice to just talk you know?" Marie says trying to keep any sort of conversation going with him.

"I have to agree that it is far more enjoyable than the normal events that unfold when we are both within proximity of each other." He says finishing his crackers.

"Maybe for you." She says giving him a wicked grin. "Don't worry Double Dee." She says when she sees the look of worry cross his face. "I promise that my days of forcing myself on to you are done." She says smiling at him.

Edd was relieved that the days of being stocked and attacked by Marie where over with. "I'm glad to hear that you are giving up on stocking me and chasing me around the school and cul-de-sack are done."

"Oh don't get me wrong, I'm still going to stock you and chase you. Just not tackle you and have my way with you, I can't give up all my evil ways. But I won't chase you around for a while though, you deserve a break from all that." She says reassuring him that her evil ways are not ending anytime soon.

"Is there anything I could do to get all of it to stop?" Edd asks her.

"Humm..." she says looking off into the distance to think. "Marrying me probably." She says looking him in the eyes with a serious look on her face.

Edd's face started turning red at her answer and she starts laughing at him. "I'm kidding Double Dee, maybe, come on we have the whole school to ourselves. Let's go have some fun." She stands up and grabs his wrist and pulls him out of the room and down the hall.

They wonder the halls in silence stopping at random doors so Marie could try opening them and when they wouldn't open she'd ask him to open it for her and he'd tell her that he shouldn't open any that aren't needed for their stay in the school. Which she would replay to him with a "your no fun", or a "lame". They eventually come to the library which has no doors just a brick archway for an entrance.

"We could entertain ourselves with some good reading material." Edd says as they stand outside the library.

"It's better than nothing." Marie says and walks into the big room full of books.

The two teens wonder the isle of the libraries Edd looking at the titles for something to catch his eyes that he'd like to read and Marie barely looking at any. While reading was one of Edd's favorite pass times, Marie really didn't care for it. Edd eventually finds himself in the spare text book section and pulls down a physics book meant for the senior class. Marie was in the art books, she hasn't told many people but Marie has a soft spot for art and her art class is the only one she actively participates in. She finds a book about graffiti art and decides to give it a look through. Marie finds Edd sitting in one of the arm chairs already reading through the text book.

"Isn't that a course book for the senior science class?" She asks sitting down next to him.

"Yes it is, but it never hurts to stay ahead of the game and as a man of science myself I need to stay well informed." He says looking up from the book.

Marie opens her book and starts to flip through it "Whatever you say Double Dee."

The two sit in silence reading, Edd was completely focused on his book but Marie was flipping through her book stopping to look over a painting she liked. Every so often Marie would sneak a look at Edd and smile to herself enjoying the fact that she is technically hanging out with him.

'This is going great, he's sitting next to me and isn't trying to run away.' Marie thinks taking another glance at him and smiles.

Marie was reaching the end of her book and turned to Edd to ask him about where they should sleep for the night when the lights all go out. "Eeep!" Marie yells and jumps into Edd's lap and hugs his neck somehow not knocking his book out of his hands. "Double Dee, what happened to the lights?" She says squeezing his neck.

"The school must have the lights on a timer. Looks like we won't have any light for the night." He says looking up to the celling.

"I don't like the dark Double Dee." She says closing her eyes and squeezing him tighter.

She was squeezing him too tight and he started having trouble breathing. "Marie." He says trying to inhale. "I can't breathe." He gets out with the last bit of air he had in his lounges.

"Oh." She says loosening her grip on his neck. "Sorry, I just got scared. I really don't like the dark."

"It's ok, if you get off me I might have something in my bag to make it easier to see." He says to her. Marie is a little reluctant at first to get off him, she felt safe from the unknown of the dark on his lap. She eventually sides off his lap to let him stand, but she holds onto his arm with both hands to keep herself feeling safe.

Edd starts digging through his bag until he finds what he's looking. "Here it is." He says as he clicks on the little flash light he had in his messenger bag. "There we go." He says holding is up.

Marie snatches it out of his and points it around the room but still holds his arm. When her fear of the dark had subsided she let go of his arm. "Double Dee, can we go back the lounge? I don't want to be in here anymore." She asks pointing the light at him so she can see him.

"Might as well, we can spend the night there." He says and he picks his bag up.

Marie leads the way out of the library and down the hall towards the lounge waving the flash light to the left and right. The walk back to the lounge felt longer to Marie that it was, she really didn't like the dark even though she was a Kanker and Kanker's are not supposed to be afraid of anything. But Marie has never liked the dark for as long as she could remember. She feels a sense of relief when they reach the teachers' lounge. She walks into the room and when Edd walks in she shuts the door and feels a lot safer.

Edd places his bag onto the table and looks over to Marie who was sitting on the couch; "So you can sleep there on the couch and I'll sleep on the floor."

Marie points the light at him. "I can't let you sleep on the floor." She says in protest to his proposal.

"I won't take no for an answer Marie. It is rude and impolite to let a lady sleep on the floor when better sleeping accommodations are available." He says holding up his right index finger like he was lecturing her.

Marie couldn't help but let out a small giggle at him. "Ok, Double Dee, But if you wake up all stiff and in pain tomorrow don't blame me."

"I assure you I will be fine. I have survived sleeping in Ed's room before." He says as he sits down on the floor.

Marie giggles at his second attempt at telling a joke. "Alright well um, good night Double Dee." Marie says as she lies down on the couch and pulls the blanket over herself.

"Sleep well Marie." Edd says lying down on his back and resting his head in his hands.

Marie takes one last look at Edd and then turns off the flashlight.

Marie snaps awake in the middle of the night. She had forgotten where she was at first but it all came back to her when she realized she was still in her cloth and not pajamas. She turns on the flash light and looks over at Edd with a smile but it quickly fades when she see that he is shivering on the floor. He is asleep but curled up in a ball trying to keep warm. Without even stopping to think Marie gets up off the couch and drags the blanket over to him. She kneels down next to him and pulls the blanket over him. Right as she tucks it around his shoulder he stops shivering. She's about to go back to the couch when her eyes fall on his hat.

'I wonder what he has under there.' She thinks as she looks at the hat. She knows she shouldn't look, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. Slowly she lifts up his hat and looks under it.

"Oh my." She whispers when she sees his hair. 'His hair is amazing, sure it looks silly all pined up like that. But he would look so handsome if he let it show.' She thinks as she gently touches his hair. Her touch caused him to stir and she jumped letting his hat fall back to his head. She quickly scrambled back onto the couch and pretended to be sleeping. But when he didn't wake up she let out a sigh of relief and closes her eyes.


	2. Chapter 2: Saturday

**AN: A quick note. I'm planning to have every day be its own chapter, so some will be long and others will be short depending on how much I write for each day. I also have no ending planed so I have no idea where this story could go, but I won't leave it unfinished and I will come up with an ending of some kind if I run out of ideas to keep it going.**

Marie awoke several hours later, the sun was shining into the room from the window on the door. She sits up stretching and looks over to Edd, he was still on the floor wrapped up in the blanket sleeping. Marie feels the need to use the restroom so she stands up cracks her neck and walks out of the room to find one.

The sound of Marie closing the door woke Edd from his own sleep. He sits up sees the blanket on him. 'Did Marie put this on me last night?' He wonders as he looks at it. "Humm, interesting…" He says as he stands up and starts to fold up the blanket. He takes his time carefully folding the blanket into a perfect square and then sets it neatly onto the couch. After finishing with the blanket he looks himself over, his tie is messed up and his shirt is all wrinkled. With a sigh he takes off the tie and undoes the top two buttons of his shirt. He tries to flatten out the wrinkles of the shirt but he couldn't get rid of the bigger ones completely.

"Well it's not like I have a speech to give in this state." He says as he straightened his pants. "I wonder where Marie has gone to, I really hope she hasn't gone and broke a window to try and get out." He says opening the door and walking into the hall. The sun shining through the windows blinded Edd temporally, but he just shook it off and looked around the hall for a sign of Marie. None of the windows were broken so he ruled out the idea of her braking out of the school. 'Humm, where should she have gone too?' he thinks as he looks down the hall. He hears what sounds like running water coming from the other end of the hall and he chooses to look down there.

Walking down the hall he eventually spots the girl's restroom. "Oh course, she probably needed to freshen up." He says when the reason for the running water clicks in his head.

Inside the restroom Marie is standing in front of the mirror looking herself over. Her eye liner is still smudged and her hair is a little messed up. She takes one of the paper owls out of the dispenser and wets it with the running water to wash off her messed up makeup. After she had cleaned off her eyeliner she starts running her hands through her hair trying to straighten it some. After some effort she gets her hair looking good enough and gives herself a quick look over to make sure she looks good and walks toward the door of the restroom.

Their timing couldn't be much better, just as Edd had reached the restroom, Marie was walking out of it.

"Hey there Double Dee, did you miss me?" Marie asks looking at him.

"I came to see if you had decided to make an escape by breaking a window." He says in response to her question.

"You told me not to break a window, so I'm not going to Double Dee." She says to him.

"Well that's good." He says smiling.

"So I was thinking, we should see if the cafeteria kitchen is unlocked, there might be something to eat."

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to look and see what we could find." He says looking off into the distance.

"Come on Double Dee, it'll be fun." She says grabbing his wrist and pulls him behind her towards the lunch room. She eventually lets go of his wrist and the two teens walk down the hall in silence. They reach the lunch room and it was a bit creepy for both of them, normally the room is full of loud kids. But with them being the only two people in the school it was just too quiet for them.

"This is kind of creepy." Marie says as they walk through the lunch room.

"Yeah I've never seen the lunch room empty before." Edd says agreeing with her.

They reach the door to the kitchen and find it locked as well. "Well that ends this little adventure." Edd says when he tries the door knob and finds it locked.

"Oh come on Double Dee, where's your sense of adventure? I bet you could pick the lock." Marie says leaning her shoulder up against the wall crossing her arms and looking with her left eye brow raised.

"I can't do that Marie, what if I get caught? My perfect record would be tarnished." He says sacred of what could happen to him if he was caught braking a rule.

"Double Dee we are the only people in the school, and if by some chance we do get busted I'll take the blame so you can keep your perfect record."

"I couldn't let you get a mark on your record for me."

"I already have several marks: Carving my name into a desk, flooding the bathroom, setting fire to a trash can, not to mention all the times I've been caught ditching school." Marie says as she counts off her infractions on her fingers.

"Oh my Marie, I had no idea you have done all those things." Edd says shocked by what she just said she has been caught doing and by how casual she said it.

"Hey I'm a bad girl remember? Doing bad is what I do best." She says smiling at him.

"I'm sure you're not really that bad Marie." He says sticking his hand into his pocket.

"And I bet you're not the Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes everyone things you are. So come on double Dee, take a walk on the wild side." She says giving him the wicked look he has come to expect from her when she wanted to do something bad.

Edd was unsure why, but he wanted to prove to Marie that he can be adventurous like her. "Ok Marie you're on." He pulls out the bobby pin he had used yesterday to open the door to the lounge and goes to work on the lock.

As she watches him work on picking the lock she thinks; 'Looks like I'm being a bad influence on him. If it's that easy to sway him, I could have a lot of fun during this weekend alone with him.' She smiles at the thought of all the fun she could have with her crush.

The lock on the kitchen door was harder to open than the one on the teachers' lounge and Edd was starting to get frustrated at it. 'Stupid door, why won't you open?' he thinks as he works. The lock finally pops just as the bobby pin brakes. But the door hadn't been properly shut so when the lock opened, the door flew open and Edd fell forward.

"Crap that hurt." Edd says picking himself up off the floor.

Marie had jump to him when he had fell and had her hands around his arm to help him up. "You ok Double Dee?"

"Yes I am ok. Thank you for your concern." He says standing up. What Edd hadn't notices but Marie has is that his fall has caused his hat to slip to the side of his head and due to missing a bobby pin part of his hair had fallen down the side of his head. Marie looks at it and thinks that it looks better in the light.

"Umm... Double Dee, your um hair is sticking out." She says pointing at his head.

"What?" He says as he touches the side of his head. When he feels his hair out from under his hat he feels mortified. "Don't look!" He yells as he turns away from her and hastily shoves his hair under his hat and readjusting it. "Sorry you had to see that Marie, now let's see if there is anything to eat in here." He says acting like his little freak out didn't just happen.

"Can I ask you a question Double Dee?" Marie asks as she follows him into the kitchen.

"I don't see why you can't." He says as he looks around the kitchen. "I don't think we will find anything to eat in here." The kitchen is full of ovens and tables but nothing that could contain any food.

"Why do you hide your hair under your hat?" She asks hoping to find the answer to her question about his hair.

"I don't hide it, I just like wearing my hat." He says giving her a fake answer.

"Double Dee I saw it last night, no one would go through the trouble of pining it up like that if they didn't want to hide their hair."

"You looked under my hat?" He asks her as the color drains from his face.

"I'm sorry my curiosity got the better of me." She says looking down to her feet in shame. She waited for him to scold her like she's seen him do to people who have messed with his hat in the past. But it didn't come, she looks up at him and sees that his just standing there holding the sides of his hat with the color still gone from his face.

"Edd?" She says using his real name trying to get him to snap back. "Look I'm really sorry I looked at your hair but you shouldn't hide it." She starts slowly walking towards him. "You have amazing looking hair and I don't understand why you would hide it." She says placing her hands on his shoulders.

She looks him in the eyes as she said that and somehow it snapped him back to reality. "You want to know why I hate my hair." He asks her

"If you want to tell me Double Dee." She says reassuring him.

He takes a deep breath and pulls his hat off then pulls the bobby pins out letting his hair fall. Her eyes grow wide when she see his hair. "Oh my." She says looking at it. His hair hung all around his head covering his face and was just above his shoulders.

"See it looks horrible. I just wish Mother and Father didn't like it so much that they won't let me get it cut short. I look like a monster for god's sake."

"You don't look like a monster, you just need to style it right." She says moving the hair out of his face. "Come with me I'll do it for you." She grabs his arm before he could say no and drags him out of the lunch room and down the hall.

"Marie where are you taking me?" He asks stumbling behind her as she pulls him behind her.

"To my locker, I have some hair stuff in it." She says answering his question.

They reach Marie's locker and she turns to him and says; "Ok Double Dee, just sit here on the floor and let me work." She says as she starts to unlock her locker.

"Marie there is really no need to do this, I'm quite happy with how I manage my hair." Edd says lying to try and stop the inevitable hair styling that he is about receive.

"Don't lie to me Double Dee." She says as she opens her locker door. "You hate how it looks and you hate how you manage it. I'm going to fix this for you Double Dee, trust me once I'm done you are not going to be ashamed of your hair." She says placing her hands on his shoulders and pushing him to the ground into a sitting position.

"Please Marie." Edd says trying to stop her.

"Edd" She uses his real name again. "Have faith in me, I'm not going to do anything horrible. And if you truly hate it still I won't stop you from hiding it. I just want to try and help you." She says with comfort in her voice.

Edd just nods his head to let her know she can work on his hair.

Marie pulls a comb, a brush and a spray bottle of water out of her locker. "It's quite lucky that my sisters are always having me fix their hair or I might not have had all this in here." She says as she turns to him. "This might be a bit cold." She tells him as she starts spraying his hair with the bottle of water.

The water was in fact cold and when it hit his skin he jumped a little. "Relax it's just water, I just need to get it wet or this will really hurt."

Edd just sits there on the ground with his eyes closed not wanting to see what she is doing as Marie works on his hair.

Marie first uses her brush to brush out the tangles in the hair. The almost two days of being pinned up under his hat had left it really tangled so it took some work to get them all out. Once that was done she worked on styling his hair, she started by parting it down the middle of his head and pulls his bangs over to the sides of his head. 'I wish I had a pair of scissors to cut it.' She thinks as she runs her hand through his hair noticing how uneven his hair was styled like this.

"Ok Double Dee, I'm done." Marie says taking a step back.

Edd had started to feel relaxed under her surprisingly gentile touch so when he opens his eyes and sees that his hair is out of his face he smiles. He reaches up and touches his hair and feels that it's softer than normal.

"Here." Marie says handing him a mirror. Edd takes the mirror and looks at his hair in it. "It's a little uneven, had I had a pair of scissors I would cut it to make it look better." She says trying to defend her work.

But he wasn't paying attention to her, he was just looking at his hair in the mirror. It was a simple styling yet it looked really good to him. "It's ok Marie, it looks good." He says looking up at her.

She slimes at his parsing of her work and goes to put her hair care tools back into her locker. "See you don't look bad." She says as she leans up against the lockers next to hers.

Edd dose likes how it looks but he doesn't feel right without his hat on, so he slips it on but keeps his hair untucked. "Thank you Marie." He says standing up and handing her the Mirror.

She puts the mirror into her locker just as her stomach growls. "We kind of forgot to eat Double Dee." She says putting her hand over her empty stomach.

"I guess we did. We can get something from the vending machine in the teacher lounge." He says looking down the hall towards the lounge.

They walk down the in silence, Edd thinking of food and Marie sneaking looks at Edd's hair. She really likes his black hair and thought it gave him a little bit of a "bad boy" look. The idea of Edd being a bad boy made her giggle and luckily he didn't her.

Unfortunately for them the power was still out so there was no power for the vending machine, so when they get to it and see that it has no power they feel disheartened.

"Why did I think of this." Edd says hitting his head lightly against the glass of the machine.

Marie looks at the machine then has an idea. "Double Dee, you got a Bic pen?"

"A Bic Pen?" He asks taking his head off the machine and looking at her.

"Yeah, one of those really cheap ones that is just a weak plastic tube."

"Maybe, let me look in my bag." He says walking over to the table and starts looking through it. He finds a pen like she was wanted. "One like this?" he asks holding the pen out to her.

"That will work." She says taking it from him and starts to take the pen apart.

Edd had no idea what she was going to do with the pen and was watching her with interest. Marie had taken the pen completely apart and had just the tube of the pen in her hand. She kneels down in front of the lock on the front of the machine, she looks at the lock then the end of the tube and then sticks it into the lock. Edd still had no idea what she was doing as she started to wiggle and turn the tube inside the lock. Marie works the pen tube in the lock until she hears a metal thunk sound, she smile and stands up pulling the handle out of the lock.

"Did you just pick the lock with a pen?" Edd asks as she turns the handle.

"Yep." She says as the door swings open.

"How did you know how to do that?" He asks as she starts looking through the food inside of the vending machine.

"Just one of the many skills I have acquired during my life as a delinquent." She says smiling and tossing him a pack of pop tarts and a bag of chips.

"Normally I wouldn't approve of breaking and entering, but my stomach thanks you Marie." He says sitting down at the table.

They eat the junk food in silence and when they finish Marie lean back in her chair as boredom sets in.

"Let's explore the school Double Dee, maybe well find something cool." Marie says making a suggestion for something for them to do.

Edd doubted they would find anything of interest in the school, but it was better than them just sitting around in the teacher lounge. "Sure why not." He says getting up from his chair.

As Edd had suspected there was not a lot to find in the school, all the doors they tried were locked and the two teens were becoming board.

"This is no fun, the whole school is locked up like a prison." Marie says stopping and leaning up against the wall.

"I was expecting there would be nothing to do. It's like one of Ed's B grade monster movies, but without a monster." Edd says agreeing with her.

"At least you don't look like one to yourself anymore, right?" Marie asks him.

He smiles a little and says; "Yes, it is nice to have hair that I do not wish to hack off."

"Aww don't think that, I like your long hair Double Dee. It gives you a little bit of a bad boy look, and I like the idea of you being a little bad." She says smiling at him with her signature wicked smile.

"Oh really?" Edd says smiling back at her. Edd didn't know where this sudden burst of boldness came from.

Marie sensing the boldness in his voice decides to see where this could go. "Yeah." She walks up to him. "Nothing is cuter than a good boy gone bad." She says poking him in the chest. "So tell me Double Dee, have you ever broken any rules?"

"Well besides all those damn scams Eddy had me help him with? None that I can think of." He says as he scratches his chin.

"You did pick two locks here in the school, doesn't that count?" She asks him.

"Maybe, but to be fair they were in search of food."

"Some bad boy you are." She says taking a step backwards from him.

"You said it not me." He says.

"Well luckily for you, I know how to turn a good boy bad." She says getting a bad idea for him, but a fun one for her.

"Dare I ask how?" Edd asks unaware of what Marie was planning.

"Like this." She says as she jumps to him and starts tickling him.

Edd didn't think she was going to do anything, so when she started tickling him he quickly loses his balance and falls to the floor laughing. Marie starts laughing along with him which led to her lessen her tickling which Edd took notice of. Using Marie's weekend attack against her, Edd was able to start tickling her back. Marie was more ticklish that Edd and she fell over and her laughter increases under Edd tickling her.

"Double Dee." She says gasping between laughs. "Stop." Her laughter increasing.

Edd stopped tickling her when she said to stop which she takes advantage of. She grabs his wrists and pushes him onto his back and sits on his lap. He was still laughing as she held him down and she was breathing heavily trying to catch her breath.

Edd took noticed of her chest rising and falling as she breathed, as well as the rest of her features and how much she has grown sense they were twelve. He himself had grown almost a foot and a half over the years, but Edd is still about a head taller than her. Her slim waist was shown off by her pink leather belt and her long thin legs on both sides of him, not to mention her face which he's never really looked at before. Her blue eyes are almost the same color as her hair, the few freckles she has under her eyes and with the smile on her face he couldn't help but think of how attractive she's become.

Edd started to blush as the thought about the girl that was sitting on top of him. But blushing wasn't the only thing Edd's body was doing as he looked at Marie, and she took notice of his "excitement".

"Getting a bit too happy are we?" She asks him smiling.

"I'm not sure I know what you are talking about Marie." Edd says to her unsure of what she is talking about.

"This." She says giving him another wicked grin as she does a quick little grind on him with her hips to show him that she can "feel him".

Edd realized what she was talking about and starts to get embarrassed and blush a deeper shade of red. "I um… that's… is um…" he says trying to find something to say in his defense.

Marie giggles at him fumbling his words. 'Maybe he dose like me, even if it is just physically.' She thinks. Marie starts to get into the heat of the moment of having the boy she adores pinned under her and the excitement of them playing around and doesn't notices she's leaning her head towards him. By the time she realizes what she's doing, their lips are touching.

Edd was shocked by the kiss. Not because she was kissing him, but because it wasn't forced on him like she's done in the past. It was soft and gentle. He could almost feel her emotions in the kiss.

When Marie realized that she is kissing him she quickly climbed off him embarrassed and sits a few feet away facing away from him. 'What are you doing Marie? You said you weren't going to force yourself onto him anymore. You are going to scare him.' She mentally scolds herself for kissing him.

Edd however wasn't thinking about her breaking her promise not to force herself onto him, he was thinking about the kiss. Sure he was embarrassed by it too, but he was more confused by it. He's never had a real kiss before and all he knew of kissing was Marie's attacks and this one was nothing like those. 'That was… different' He thinks as starts becoming unsure about how he feels about Marie. For the longest time he has been afraid of her and now he doesn't know what to think. He realizes that he doesn't even understand why she likes him.

"Um Marie, could I asks you something?" Edd says deciding that for him to understand he needs to know more about her.

"Um sure, I guess." Marie says not turning to face him still embarrassed that she kissed him like that.

"Why is it that you um, like me?" he says feeling very childish having to ask such a question.

"What?" She says not sure she heard him right.

"Your reasons, for liking me." He says rewording his question for her.

Marie thinks that maybe if she can spin her answer into a joke it will help to break the tension she is feeling between them. "You mean besides thinking you're extremely cute?" she says leaning back on her hands and turning her head to look at him with a smile.

Edd laughs at her answer. "Yes besides that."

"Well I guess it's because you're really smart and I find your silly little quirks adorable, and you are nice to everyone and always look for the good in people." She says looking up at the ceiling as she thinks. "Most people would have treated us just like how we treated them. But not you Double Dee, even after all me and my sisters have done to you and your friends you are still nice and polite to us. Your one in a million Double Dee and any girl that could see that would be infatuated with you."

Edd didn't know what to say, he was not expecting an answer like that, he didn't think her feeling for him where that deep. He's starting to see that there is a lot more to Marie that just her being a Kanker.

Marie looks back at him and sees that he's lost in deep thought. "Hey Double Dee I'm bored. Let's go back to the library." She suggests attempting to change the subject before he can ask her anymore questions. She doesn't let him give her an answer she just stands up and starts walking down the hall in the direction of the library.

Edd stands up and follows her towards the library still trying to figure out what is going on inside his head. That kiss had started up a storm inside his head on how he himself feels about Marie, he was unsure what to think about what had just happened to him.

When they get to the library Edd begins looking through the books till he finds one on adolescent behavior. 'This could shed some light on my current predicament.' He thinks opening the book and flipping through the pages as he walks over to the same set of chairs they were sitting in yesterday.

Marie had found a book of classic fairy tales, she though would be an interesting read and was sitting on the floor leaning up against the chair she had sat in yesterday flipping through the book.

They sat in silence yet again as they read, Edd was combing his book for answers as to why he was confused about Marie. Shortly after they had started reading Marie had fallen asleep on the floor, her book lay open on the floor next to her. Edd couldn't help but look down at her as she slept, she looked peaceful and calm sleeping that Edd couldn't help but smile as he watched her sleep. Edd went back to reading but he kept stopping and looking down at her while he read.

Marie wakes up a few hours later, yawns and starches looking around. "How long was I out?" She asked Edd looking up at him in his chair.

"You only slept for a few hours, it's just after four." He says as he looks at his watch.

"I'm getting hungry, can we go back and get something to eat?" She asks picking up her book and standing up.

"I suppose we should be getting back to our makeshift base camp, we don't want to be wondering the halls of the school after it gets dark." He says closing his own book and setting it on top of the one he was reading yesterday that is sitting on a table next to the chair.

"Yeah, I don't want a repeat of last night." She says as he stands from his chair.

"Then we shall return to the lounge." He says and they begin to walk out of the library.

When they reach the lounge Marie starts going through the vending machine.

"I should leave some money inside of it to pay for the food we are taking from it." Edd says as he watches her pull out a bag of pretzels and a pack of cookies.

"They shouldn't have killed the power or left me alone with it." She says smiling and handing him some junk food.

"I guess you're technically right." He says sitting down at the table.

Marie joins him at the table. "I always am."

Edd just laughs her bold statement.

"A question accrues to me Marie." Edd says after he finishes eating.

"Oh?" Marie says.

"If you and your sisters are quote "into" Ed, Eddy and me, why are you then so mean to us?" He asks her.

Marie decides to be honest with him. "It's what our mom had said how to get boys to like us, "be rough with them and they will fall for you" is what she would say. But I'm starting to see that she's wrong."

"I have to agree. Kindness will always out way meanness when interacting with your fellow peers." He says to her. "Take Nazz for example, she is always nice to everyone and she has the friendship of almost everyone in the school."

"I can't stand her." Marie says looking away from him crossing her arms and glaring.

"Why don't you like Nazz?" He asks her surprised by the dislike of Nazz.

"Everyone likes her cause she's so cool and so pretty, she could have the personality of a plank of wood and shed still be popular."

"Her popularity isn't just because of her being "cool" Marie, anyone can learn the current trends and follow them. And looks have nothing to do with it either, because if that was the case then you yourself would be part of the popular crowd." He says not fully realizing that he technically just called Marie pretty.

"You think I'm as pretty as Nazz?" She asks surprised by what he just said.

"In a manner of speaking… Yes?" he says realizing what he had just said.

"Thanks Double Dee." She says standing up. "That might be the nice thing anyone has ever said to me." she gives him a smile and picks up the book she brought back with her.

"You're welcome Marie." Edd says returning her smile.

"Hey Edd, can you read me a story?" She asks seeing if she can milk his kindness.

"I suppose I can." He says as he takes the book from her and walks over to the cough and sits down.

"Yay." She says as she jumped onto the couch next to him.

"Which story would you like to hear?" Edd asks as he opens the book.

"I don't really care, so surprise me." She says.

Edd opens the book to a random page. "Here we go, Hansel and Gretel a classic." He says reading the title of the story he had opened to.

As Edd read to her she couldn't help but lose herself in the sound of his voice and before she knew it she had fallen asleep. Edd hadn't noticed that she'd fallen asleep as he read and Marie started to lean towards him and she eventually leaned far enough to fall resting her head on his shoulder. Her falling onto him surprised him, he was unsure if he should wake her or move to let her lay down on the couch. He looked over to her and he couldn't help by smile at how cute she looked sleeping. He decides to move so she could lie down, but when he tried to scoot away from her she grabs his arm and make a noise of defiance causing him to blush. He shrugs and figures he will just let her stay and goes back to reading the book to himself.

Edd himself eventually fell asleep reading like he has done several times in the past, the book falling with his left hand to one side and his right hand falling down next to Marie's. Subconsciously while they sleep their hands joined and they end up holding hands for the whole night while they slept.


	3. Chapter 3: Sunday

Edd awoke first this time and finds Marie still resting against him. It had been a surprisingly enjoyable night of sleep for Edd. He hasn't had a good night's sleep in a while so he was still a little groggy and it took him a minute to realize that there was something in his right hand. When he finally dose feel something he looks down at his hand and sees he's holding Marie's. He doesn't take his had away from hers, he just stares at their hands and he starts to blush. His confusion about Marie from yesterday returns as he looks at his hand holding hers. 'Could I seriously be developing fillings for her?' He thinks looking away from their hands. Edd is not oblivious to how attraction to the opposite sex works, he just never thought that he would feel like that for Marie Kanker. 'Maybe it's just because we've been in the school alone together. That must be it, I just feel an attraction to her because I am spending all this time with her.' He answers his question. 'But then why am I still holding her hand?'

Marie had woken up herself while Edd was thinking over how he felt about her, Marie didn't need to think about how she felt about Edd. She has liked him for years now and sitting next to him with her head on his shoulder and their hands cupped, she thinks she couldn't happier. Unfortunately for Marie, her happy moment wasn't meant to last forever. Her stomach growled loud enough for Edd to hear it and he snaps out of his train of thought and pulls his hand out from hers. It made her sad that he took his hand out of hers and she figured it was time to sit up and stop pretending to be asleep.

She straitens up and gives a fake yawn. "Morning." She says smiling to him.

"Good morning Marie. Sleep well I hope?" He asks pretending that nothing had happened.

"Yeah, it's been a little strange not sleeping in the same room with Lee and May. They are always so loud in the morning that I couldn't sleep in even if I wanted to." She says standing up and adjusting her clothing.

"Sounds a lot like when I have slept over at Ed's. Sarah is very vocal in the morning." He says standing up himself and checking to see if his shirt is straight.

Marie had walked over to the vending machine and was looking at the various items inside. "I'm really getting sick of junk food." She says crossing her arms.

"I have to agree with you on that, I don't normally eat this much in a weekend. I would do almost anything for a salad." He says agreeing with her.

"I could always throw a chair through a window and we can make our escape that way." She says joking.

"Destruction of private property will not be necessary Marie. I'm sure we will get out of here soon." He says not wanting her to break anything.

"I was kidding." She says as she pulled a few candy bars and as well as some cookies out and went to sit down at the table.

After they ate there vending machine food breakfast, Marie gets an idea for something they can do to pass the time. She had remembered that the art room doesn't have a working lock on the door and thought that showing him some of her work would help to show him that she isn't all bad.

"Come with me Double Dee, I know what we can do today for fun." She says standing up and walking towards the door.

"What do you have in mind?" Edd asks standing up to follow her.

"The art room, it's never locked so we can get in without having to pick the lock." She says as she starts down the hallway.

"Why would we go into the art room?" Edd asks her as he followed her down the hall.

"I have some projects in there I would like to work on." She says to him.

"I had no idea that you were an art fan." Edd says as they approach the art room.

"I love to draw, not to brag but I'm pretty good at sketches. My sisters think it's stupid so I have to keep my good stuff here at the school to keep it safe." She says boasting as she walked.

Inside the room there are several tables with chairs under them, a standing closet in one corner and some cabinets in the back of the room. Marie starts to pull open the draws of the cabinets in the back of the class. "Where did she move my stuff?" She says looking through the cabinets.

"What are you looking for?" Edd asks her.

"My drawings, they are not where I put them." She says closing the last cabinet.

"I'm sure the teacher just moved them to suit her sorting needs." Edd says to her.

"Bah." She says looking around the room. "So much for getting some work done." 'Damn, and I wanted to show him some of my work.' She thinks disappointed that she couldn't show off her drawings.

"I'm sorry you are not able to work on any of your projects." Edd says feeling disappointed because he wouldn't get to see her art.

Marie looks over to him and an idea comes to her. "I have an idea." She says walking over to the supple closet. She starts to dig through it and pulls out a tablet of paper and some pencils.

"What are you planning?" He asks unsure of why she was digging through the closet.

"I'm going to draw you, I could use some practice drawing portraits, so you can be my model." She says turning around from the closet.

"I'm going to be what?" He asks not sure if he hear her right.

"My model for a sketch." She says walking towards him.

"I suppose I could do that." He says to her.

"Hear sit in this chair." She says pulling a chair out from under one of the tables.

Edd goes to sit down in the chair. "No not like that." She says stopping him. "This way." She says turning the chair around so he would sit backwards in it.

Edd sits down in the chair. "Like this?" He asks as he sits down with his arms by his side.

"No, cross your arms on the back of the chair." She sets the tablet and pencils down on the table and grabs his arms to place them on the back of the chair. "There, now just sit there and don't move." She says taking a step back from him.

Marie sits down on top of a table, crosses her legs and goes to work on her drawing.

Edd quietly watches Marie work on her drawing for several minutes and couldn't help but admire her complete focused on her work.

"If you don't mind me asking." Edd says after watching her draw for a few more minutes.

"Shoot." She says not looking up from her work.

"How long have you been an art enthusiast?" He asks.

"Oh I've been drawing for a long time, mostly stupid drawings of simple things. But I've only been taking it seriously for a few years now, it's kind of a secret passion of mine."

Edd is amazed that Marie is that much into art and he couldn't help but smile.

"Art is the only class I enjoy, it's also the only class I have a good grade in, well Gym too, but who could get a bad grade in gym?" she says.

"I kind of have a bad grade in Gym class." Edd says blushing from the shame of his imperfect GPA.

"What? Really?" Marie says shocked that Edd has a bad grade in a class.

"Yes it is sad but true, I have a C- in Gym. It is killing my GPA and I hate it. Even Ed has a B in that class and he barely participates in any of the activities." Edd says his voice.

Marie felt sorry for Edd, she knows that he takes great pride in his school work. "It can't be hurting you that much Double Dee." She says trying to make him feel better.

"A low GPA can severely affect collage applications." Edd says still sounding sad.

"Were only in tenth grade Double Dee, you got a few years before you have to start thinking about collage."

"Tell that to Mother and Father. They are so intent on me getting into a good school." He says frowning

"I'm sure they just want the best for you." She says seeing the frown on his face

"I know." He says with a sigh.

"Hey." She says to him to get him to look at her. "Parents do crazy things sometimes. But it's all because they care." She says giving him a smile.

Her smile combined with her reassuring words made him feel better. "Thank you Marie."

She's not sure why exactly he's thanking her. "You're welcome Double Dee." She says as she goes back to focusing on her sketch.

It takes Marie almost an hour to finish her drawing, she would stop occasionally to look up at Edd for a reference or just to enjoy the view of him sitting in front of her. All the while Edd sat quietly watching her work. 'She looks completely focused on her work, it's kind of cute.' He thinks watching her.

"Done." She says holding the tablet out in front of her to admire her work. "What do you think Double Dee?" She asks turning the tablet around to show him her work.

The drawing was really well done, she had put a lot of detail into the sketch of Edd sitting in the chair. "That looks really good Marie. You are an amazing artist if I do say so myself." He says admiring her work.

Marie blushes a little at his parse. "Thanks Double Dee."

"You're welcome Marie. Now if you will excuse me, I need to use the restroom." Edd says standing up from the chair.

"Ok, I'll be here." She says as he walks out of the room. When Edd leaves the room and is out of ear shot of Marie she lets out a sigh. "He really is to die for. First we held hands while we slept and then he likes my drawing." She says putting her head in her hands and smiles. "Ok Marie its do or die, we need to see how far we can get to him to go. What's the worst that could happen?" She says to herself. She gets up from the table hides her drawing behind the cabinet and puts away the pad and pencils.

Marie walks out of the art room to wait for Edd in the hall. 'Ok, now what to do?' she thinks as she looks around the hall. She spots the door to the gym and smiles as she remembers all the times her and her sisters have chased them into the gym or pool attached to it and all the "fun" they have had with the Ed's inside. "The pool could be fun." She says her wicked smile appearing on her face as she formulates a plan to have some "fun" with Edd.

Edd returns from the restroom to find Marie leaning up against the wall with her arms crossed and looking rebellious as usual.

"So now what should we do Marie, go back to the library?" He asks her when he reaches her.

"I have a better idea, follow me." She grabs his wrist and starts to pull him down the hall again.

"Now where are we going?" He asks her.

"It's a surprise." She says smiling at him as she pulling him down the hall.

"Oh dear I have a bad feeling about this." Edd says.

Marie drags Edd through the gym and into the pool. "How is the door to the pool unlocked?" Edd asks they entered the pool room and she finally lets go of him.

"The lock had been broken on the door for months. Not my doing by the way." Marie says.

"Ok, then why are we here?" He asks having no idea as to why they are in the pool room.

"To go swimming of course Double Dee." She says taking a step behind him.

"I must insist that we not partake in swimming. There is no life guard on duty and if we were to get hurt there would be no one to help us." He says in protests of her idea.

Marie wraps her arms around him from behind him and stands on her tippy toes to whisper into his ear "Come on Double Dee, it'll be fun." As she starts undoing his shirt buttons.

"Marie I must insist that you stop your current actions." He says as grabs her hands trying to stop her.

Marie gives him a playful bite on the back of his neck causing him to let go of her hands. Somehow faster than anyone should have been able to, Marie is able to undo the button and fly to his pants causing them to fall down and pull his shirt off of him in one quick motion.

Edd is left standing there with his pants around his ankles and shirtless feeling very embarrassed. He turns around to scold Marie for his actions; "Marie what in the name of." He stops talking when he see that she already has her top off and is working on undoing the belt on her mini skirt. His face goes very red as he sees Marie taking off her skirt. "Marie… Um… I ah… you." He says fumbling his words.

Marie giggles as she steps out of her flats and over to him with her signature wicked look on her face. Edd is still at a loss for words as she steps on his pants and pushes him causing him to step backwards and out of his pants. If it wasn't for the fact that he wearing Converts he probably would have tripped and fell.

Her push had caused him to step right to the edge of the pool and Edd regains some sense; "Marie we really shouldn't do this." He says trying to stop her.

Marie is right in front of him "Relax Double Dee, this is going to be fun." She then kisses him on the nose and pushes him into the pool and then jumps in after him.

In the water Edd is able to regain his footing and stands up in the pool. "Marie!" He yells annoyed that she had just pushed him into the pool. He looks around for her and sees her coming up from under the water a few feet away from him. He turns to face her to continue to yell at her but when he sees her surface his anger fades completely. He can't help but look at her in just her under ware and bra, and blushes a very deep shave of red and turns his head away from her.

Marie had seen how red Edd had turned. 'Well I can safely assume that he does have a physical attraction to me at least.' She thinks watching him. Wanting to get him to play around to see if he can have fun with her she splashes him with a wave of water.

The wave hits Edd and he turns around to see her giggling at him and sending another wave of water at him.

'Oh so she wants to be like that? Well it shouldn't be too hard to throw a wave back at her.' He thinks as the second wave hits him. Edd tries to copy her actions and send a wave of water at her, but it didn't even get half way to her.

"Come on Double Dee you can do better than that. It's all in the wrist." She says to him trying to encourage him. "Like this." She says as she sends another splash at him.

Edd watches her make the wave of water making mental notes of her movements. After he recovers from getting hit by her splash he copies her actions and successfully hits her with a splash of water.

"There you go Double Dee." She says smiling as she shakes the water out of her eyes. "I know you could do." She is cut off by a second wave of water from Edd. "It." She says finishing her statement her smile gone.

Edd however was laughing hysterically at her, forgetting that he was mad at her and standing in the school pool in just his boxers with the girl he is slowly starting to fall for.

Marie smiles at him and then says; "You think that's funny?"

Edd caught the sound of sarcasm in her voice and answers her; "A little but yes."

"Why you." She says and sends and another wave of water at him laughing.

The two teens play around in the pool splashing water at each other and laughing. Edd had completely forgotten about the embarrassment he had and is enjoying playing around with Marie.

The two finally stop sending waves of water at each other, they are tired and out of breath from splashing each other and laughing.

"Sorry for pushing you in like that Double Dee, I just wanted to have some fun with you." She says to him as she mentally prepares herself for the next part of her wicked plan.

"It's fine though I do wish you would have let me take my shoes off." He says looking down at his shoes under the water.

Marie giggles and starts to swim over to him. "I'm sorry about your shoes Double Dee." She says as she reaches him and stands right in front of him. "But did you have fun?"

Edd starts to fumble his words again. "Um… I… that is… um, yes." He finally manages to say.

'It's do or die.' Marie thinks wrapping her arms around his neck. "You know Double Dee, you are really cutie when you get all flustered." She says smiling at him with her wicked smile. Edd starts to blush yet again from being this close to Marie. She didn't want to give him a chance to push her away so she pulls him closer to her and kiss him.

At first Edd is surprised by the kiss, it was like the one they had shared the previous day but with more feeling in it. Not fully realizing what he is doing Edd places his hands on her hips pulling her even closer to him and returns the kiss.

As they stand in the pool kissing Marie could barely contain her joy over him returning the kissing back her. 'Oh my god oh my god, he's kissing me back!' She thinks as she starts to play with his hair on the back of his head.

When they finally break their embrace, Edd is lost in the moment with his eyes halfway closed. Marie was smiling at him when he opens his eyes not fully realizing what had just happened. When he dose realize that he had just kissed her back he becomes more embarrassed than he has all weekend, he lets go of Marie and turns away from her not able to look at her.

They stand around in the water in silence, Marie grinning from ear to ear and Edd red faced and unsure what to think about Marie. Kissing her a second time had shown him that he does have some feeling for her but he still was unsure about what to think about those feelings. He finally decides that the only way he could be sure about how he feels is to spend more time with her, and they can't do that standing around in the pool.

"Um Marie, I think perhaps we should get out of the water before the catch pneumonia." He says breaking the silence.

"Yeah we probably should." She says and they start to climb out of the pool.

Edd is actively not looking at her as he sits on the ground to take off his soaked shoes and socks before he put his shirt and pants back on. There cloths stick to their wet bodies and Marie wearing a lot less clothing than Edd started to shiver.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." She says as she wraps her arms around herself trying to warm herself.

"I have to agree with you." He says standing up teeth chattering and his wet shoes and socks in hand. "But remember there is that blanket back in the lounge you can use to warm up with." He says reminding her of the blanket still not looking directly at her.

"Oh yeah, let's go." She says turning and walking out of the pool room.

When they get back to the teachers' lounge Marie grabs the blanket and wraps herself in it and sits down on the couch "Aww that's better." She says looking up at him.

Edd blushed as she looked at him and turned to look away from her, not being able to look at her without feeling embarrassed. He is starting to feel the effects of the cold himself and starts to shiver.

Marie sees that he is starting to shiver and says; "Double Dee, come here and get warm." She opens the blanket on her left side for him.

"I am quite fine Marie." Edd says not looking at her.

"Double Dee, sit down and get warm or I will make you." Marie says looking at him with a stern look.

Edd is reluctant to do so, but he sits down next to her and she wraps the blanket around him. He feels very embarrassed being this close to Marie so he sits very stiff and straight.

"Relax Double Dee." Marie says as she pulls her legs up behind her. "I'm not going to hurt you." She says leaning her head on his shoulder. "Not now or ever again." She says as she closes her eyes.

Marie feels really happy and relaxed as she rests on his shoulder. 'This has been an amazing day.' She thinks as she snuggles up to him.

Edd starts to relax as Marie rests her head on him, Feeling the warmth coming from her body helps to warm him up. After a few minutes of them just sitting in silence Marie reaches her hand up behind Edd and starts to play with the hair on the back of his head again, running her fingers through it and warping it around her fingers.

Her touch surprised Edd causing him to tighten up his back. But as she touched his head he started to enjoy her touch, it relaxed him and removed all the anxiety he had over Marie. And soon he was smiling and enjoying the sound of her slowing breath as she started to fall asleep. He rests his head on hers thinking he'll just rest his eyes for a few minutes, but he too ended up falling asleep.

**AN: This chapter was a bit short, but I think it's a big one none the less. I have a long term plan for this story and I hope to get a chapter out every week but it all depends on my free time to work on it.**


	4. Chapter 4: Monday

Principle Walrts hated Mondays, he had to get to the school an hour earlier than the rest of the staff to do a walkthrough of the building and to reset the power timer the city had installed to save on electricity. He pulls into his regular parking spot at the school and sighs as he looks at the building.

"Six o'clock is too damn early." He says as he opens his car door and steps out of his car. He locks the door and takes a big drink from his travel mug of coffee then turns to walk up to the front door. Using his master key he unlocks one of the front doors and enters the school, as he walks down the empty hall to the school office and enjoys the quietness of the school. When he reaches the school office he unlocks its door and makes his way to his personal office room. Next to his door is the power timer, he hits a few of the buttons and the lights start to come on throughout the school. He leaves his jacket and briefcase inside his office and starts his inspection of the school.

He walks down the hall checking the doors to the rooms making sure they are locked. "Yep" he says every time the door he checks is locked, but when he gets to the art room he turns the knob he says; "Unlock as usual." As well as when he reaches the Gym door.

But when he sees that one of the janitor closets are open he stops. "This isn't right." He says looking at it as walked up to it. "Oh wait, this is that one that gets stuck if closed. Maybe one of the janitors just left it open." He says walking away down the hall checking the other doors. He turns a corner and sees a door sitting wide open. "Ok, what is this?" He says walking over to the open door. It was the teachers' lounge and he knew that it is meant to be locked at all time to keep the students out of it. He steps inside of it and flips the light switch on.

"What the?" He says as he sees two students sleeping on the couch. He recognizes both of the students, one being problem chilled he usually sees at least once a week in the office, the other was one of the top students of the sophomore class that he is expecting great things from. He snaps his fingers waking the two kids from their slumber. "Eddward, Marie. Care to explain yourselves?" he asks as they sit up.

"Hu what?" Edd says as he wakes up.

"I asked you to explain why you and Miss Kanker are sleeping in the teachers' lounge when school is closed." He says crossing his arms.

"Oh yes, you see… um… we." Edd says not sure what to say to the principle.

"We got locked in the school by accident." Marie says jumping in to explain to the principle what they were doing. "You see Double Dee and I went into one of the janitors closets to look for some paper towels to clean up a mess Ed had made but the door jammed shut on us and it took us a couple of hours to get out and by the time we did the school was locked up and we had no way to get out. Neither of us had a cell phone with so we couldn't call anyone so we had to wait out the weekend here in the school. We found the door to the teachers' lounge unlocked so we decided to crash in here for the nights." She says slipping in a few lies to cover up the few things Edd did that were against the rules.

"Ok, but your parents surely have been wondering where you two are?" He asks not fully believing her story

"I was meant to attend the weekend science lecture with the Junior Scientist Club." Edd says.

"And my mom works double shifts on weekends so she wouldn't normally see me till tonight." Marie says giving her reason for her mother not being worried.

"Uh huh, so why didn't you use the payphone by the office? It gets its power from the phone line itself so it works even when the power is out for the weekend." He says raising an eyebrow.

Edd slaps himself on the forehead. "Why didn't I think of that? It's so simple" Edd couldn't believe he didn't think to look for a phone even when the power was on.

"Look I know you're a good kid Eddward, so I'm going to believe you. You two kids go home and clean up, I think losing a weekend is punishment enough for you. Just be back before final bell, I still expect you to attend school today." He says deciding that they are telling the truth.

"Thank you very much sir." Edd says standing up and shaking his hand.

"Yeah, thanks Principle Walrts." Marie says after Edd thanks the principle.

"You're welcome kids, just get going." He says pointing out the door with his thumb. Edd quickly puts his shoes back on then grabs his bag, thanks Principle Walrts again and Marie and him make for the exit of the school.

"Thanks for the quick thinking back there." Edd says once they get outside of the school.

Marie turns to Edd. "No problem, so I guess I'll see you later Double Dee." She says as she starts to walk away sad that their time together is ending.

Edd is hesitant at first but he says; "Marie, wait."

She stops and turns to face him. "Yeah Double Dee?"

Edd wanted to spend more time with her outside the school so he could see how he really feels about her asks; "Well you see I'm off from work today, so I was wondering if maybe after we return to our homes and clean up. You would like to um go to the mall and maybe hang out? You don't have to if you don't want to of course" He says his face running a little red.

'Is Double Dee asking me out on a date?' She thinks as she hears his proposal and walks back to him. Smiling at him she says; "What happen to never breaking the rules?"

Edd looks up at the school and says; "I think I learned quite a lot over this weekend to merit missing one day."

Marie smiles at the idea of spending another day with Edd away from everyone they know. "I'd love to, I'll meet you at your house after I freshen up ok?" She gives him a quick kisses the cheek and starts to walk away.

"Ok, see you then" He says as he watches her walk away.

Edd takes the long way on his walk home to avoid running into his friends, not wanting to explain to them why he will not be at school for the day.

When He gets home he heads straight up stairs to take a shower and change. While he is showering and putting on fresh change of clothing (a black short sleeved shirt and blue jeans) Edd is thinking of all he learned about Mare: How she really cares for his wellbeing, the soft side of her that she hides behind her tough punk rocker exterior, her passion for art, how he thinks its cute that she doesn't like the dark and how beautiful he thinks she is, not to mention the two kisses they shared while in the school.

As he is brushing his teeth he looks at himself in the mirror and asks himself out loud; "Do you like Marie Kanker?" He stares at himself thinking over everything that has happened over the weekend and finally says; "Yes" and smiles at himself.

He is about to pin up his hair to hide it under his hat but stops and looks at his hair. He picks up the brush he never uses and arranges his hair just like Marie had done so when he puts his hat on it hangs around his head like it did before. He pulls on his hat and smiles at his reflection in the mirror just as there is a knock on his front door. He goes down stairs to answer the door, and as he guessed it was Marie.

She is wearing a red sleeveless shirt with a black anarchy A on it and a plaid skirt being held up with her pink belt. She has a skull button pinned to her shirt and a black purse hanging off her shoulder.

"Ready to join me in a fun day of delinquency?" She asks when he opens the door.

Edd smiles when he sees her. "I'm sure if I'm with you it's going to be quite enjoyable." He steps outside and closes the door. "Shall we?" He asks her.

"Lead on." Marie says as they start walking down the street towards the mall.

As they walk down the street a question accurse to Marie. "Hey Double Dee you're sixteen, why don't you have your license?"

"My parents are making me wait till this summer to take a driving school class. They don't want anything to distract me from my school work." Edd tells her.

"Nice, I'm hoping my mom will let me get mine when I turn sixteen. But I think she'd want me to get a job first." She says as they stop at a traffic light.

"Trust me, working is not it's all cracked up to be. The amount of ignorance I deal with every day is astounding." Edd says as the light changes and the signal for them to walk across the street comes on.

"Where do you work?" Marie asks him as they cross the street.

"I work at the Radio Shack in the mall." He says sounding unenthusiastic about his place of work.

"It can't be that bad Double Dee." Marie says not believing how sad his voice sounds.

"If it wasn't for the fact that I can put my electronic knowledge to use to help others I would dislike it even more." He tells her as they reach the parking lot of the mall.

"You really like working with electronics, don't yah?" She asks him.

"Very much so. I know I'm a bit too young to be thinking this far into the feature, but I would love to someday work at Stark Industries in the R&D department." He says cupping his hands together and his face lighting up.

"Stark Industries? Isn't that the place that makes those strange batteries?" She asks him as he holds the door into the mall open for her.

"They do a lot more than make Arch batteries Marie, they do all kinds of things." He says as they walk along inside mall. "They do computer software, advance robotics, clean energy and not to mention all of those cool little gadgets they make, just to name a few." Edd says.

"Wow, that does sound kind of cool. Hey, let's go in here." Marie says pointing at one of the shops.

"Alright." Edd says as he follows her into the shop.

Inside the shop there is loud rock music playing and the walls are covered in mostly black clothing with shelves on the floor with various knick knacks and accessories of all kinds. "We are inside Hot Topic aren't we?" Edd asks her.

"Yeah, why?" She asks him raising an eyebrow at him.

"I just never would have thought of you to be one of the people that shop here. This place just seems so, commercialized." He says looking around the shop.

"Oh I don't buy clothes from here. I just come here for accessories sometimes. I make most of my clothes from stuff I find at thrift stores, it's more fun if you do it yourself." She says as she looks through a box of buttons. After a quick look around the store Marie says; "They don't have anything new, let's blow this popsicle stand." and leads him out of the shop.

Edd was enjoying his time spent with Marie so far, they've been walking around the mall making small talk and looking around the various shops for a few hours and he was happy with how the day is going. "Would you care to get something to eat Marie?" Edd asks her as they continue their stroll in the mall.

"As long as there is no junk food I'm game." Marie answers as they walk.

"I was thinking of that new place that just opened up in the food court that claims to have all healthy meals." Edd says suggesting a place for them to eat at on their day together.

"After eating vending machine food all weekend I would even eat grass." Edd laughs at her statement as they walk over to the food court to eat.

The place Edd wanted to eat at was in the far corner of the food court and almost no one was eating there.

"I guess this place isn't that popular." Edd says as they approach the counter to look at the menu.

"Yeah, but here we can hear each other talk." Marie says as she looks over the menu.

They make their decisions on what to eat and place their orders with the guy behind the counter.

Marie was reaching for her purse when Edd grabs her hand stopping her. "No need to pay for your food, it is a gentlemen's duty to pay for a lady when out on a da-"Edd stops himself from almost saying date. "Da day out on the town." Edd says correcting himself.

Edd had hoped that Marie hadn't noticed his almost slip up, but she was too clever for that. 'Aww he does think of this as a date. This day is just getting better and better.' She thinks. "Thanks Double Dee." She says thanking him for his generosity.

They get their trays of food and sit down at one of the tables to eat. Edd being the extreme neat freak that he is when it comes to eating carefully folds out a napkin onto his lap and uses a plastic fork and knife to carefully cut his sandwich as he ate. Marie wanting to impress Edd minds her table manners as she eats her own sandwich. Though she does still finish her food well before he finishes his, so she just sits and watches him eat.

"You know by now we would probably be going into gym class had we gone to school today." She says looking out the window.

"That is one blessing of the day. I can't stand gym class." Edd says in between bites.

"I like gym class." Marie says looking at him.

"May I ask why?" He asks curious as to her reasons for liking his least favorite class.

"Honestly? Its cause it's the only class I have with you." She says smiling at him.

With a little laugh Edd says; "I should have known."

"Ha ha, yep, any time I get to see you is a great time." Marie says as he finishes his last bite.

"So does that means today so far had been great?" He asks her as he folded up his napkin.

"Of course it has, I get to miss school and spend the day with you, this is a fantastic day." She says as they stand up to return their trays.

"Would you um, be interested in catching a movie Marie?" Edd asks her after they place the trays on a pile of them.

'So the plot thickens.' She thinks guessing that this was part of his plan for their secret date. "Sure as long as it's not some sappy romantic movie, I hate those." She says as they walk out of the food court.

"I am not fond of them either, but let us see what is playing and go from there?" Edd suggests.

"Sure why not." Marie says trying to not sound as excited as she is about seeing a movie with Eddy.

The Peach Creek Mall's movie theater wasn't very big and only showed three movies at a time. The three movies currently playing were: The Dark Knight Rises, one just called Tinkerbell, and the third was The Notebook.

"A unique selection as always I see." Edd says as the look at the movie selection.

"A kiddy one, an action one, and a sappy one. Well I know what one I want to see." Marie says crossing her arms in front of her.

"Batman I'm guessing, seeing as one is a "sappy romantic movie" and the other is meant for children." Edd says guessing her choice.

"You guessed it."

Edd buys both of their tickets for the movie as it is "another duty of a gentlemen" to pay for movie tickets. Marie again enjoying him playing the gentlemen accepted his offer to buy their tickets. 'This date is going great, hell its going better than I would ever have imagined it would have.' She thinks as they walked away from the ticket window.

"Would you like some refreshments?" Edd asks as they walk into the theater lobby and spots the concession stand.

"Na, I'm good, thanks for offering." Marie says not wanting anything to come between her and Edd alone in the dark movie theater.

Inside the theater Edd and Marie find it to be almost empty say for a few moviegoers that looked to be in there twenties sitting all the way in the back. The two teens take seats in the middle of the rows of chairs just as the film starts. Marie not normally having money to see movies in the theater or means to watch them after they come out on DVD had yet to see the first two movies of the trilogy so she didn't quite understand a few plot points. But the action scenes were enjoyable and being with Edd made the confusion of the plot line all worth it.

Edd however was confused about a different matter, he was dealing with yet another mental battle over Marie. He had already determined that he does in fact like Marie but he was unsure how to show it, let alone tell her that he likes her. 'Ok Double Dee, you're a smart young man. You can figure this out, how hard can it be to show a girl you like her. Flowers? No where would you get flowers in a movie theater? And I can't do candy or a greeting card. What is wrong with you Eddward? This is Marie Kanker not some girly girl that would want that kind of stuff. Just do something that shows how you feel and that isn't so obvious that the rest of the moviegoers will see.' He thinks as he tries to figure out what to do to show Marie that he likes her. 'A ha!' He thinks when he finally comes up with, in his mind, the perfect way to show Marie he likes her. He had decided that just simply putting his arm around her on top of her shoulders was the best way to show his affection. But as he goes to raise his arm his stomach fills with butterflies. He is nervous about performing his chosen act of affection and starts to sweat. 'Damn it man, you can do this.' He thinks as he takes a deep breath to try and calm the butterflies and slowly places his arm around her. When his arm touches her the butterflies explode in his stomach but soon dissipate after she doesn't do anything from his touch. 'See, I knew you could do it. Now relax and enjoy the rest of this movie Eddward.' He thinks as he takes another deep breath.

Marie was on the verge of squealing when he placed his arm around her. It was the one action she had hoped at the very least to get from him, and now that he had done it she had to stop herself from jumping onto him and kissing him. 'Calm down Marie we need to play this cool. Double Dee scares easily and we don't want to blow this. Just casually rest your head on his shoulder and watch the movie.' She does just that and slowly and carefully lays her head on Edd's shoulder and sighs a happy sigh as she smiles. 'Perfect.' She thinks as Edd makes no move to react to her actions. The two sit like that for the rest of the movie, Marie grinning that she is being held by the object of her years of aggressive affection and Edd himself smiling at the fact the he has his arm around the last girl he ever thought he would have fallen for.

When the movie ends and the credits start to roll Edd starts to realize that the lights will come on soon and have to face Marie and potentially have to explain his actions to her. 'Oh dear, I hadn't thought about what to do after the movie.' Edd thinks as the panic sets in again.

But when the lights do come up it is Marie that makes the first move. She leans up and kisses him on the cheek causing him to blush and smile. "I need to use the restroom, wait for me ok?" She says getting up and leaving before he could say anything.

Once inside the ladies room she checks to see that it is empty, and when she sees that there is no one in the room she releases her joy she's been holding in. "Oh my god this is so amazing!" She says jumping up and down hugging herself. "I never thought this would be happening to me! Double Dee and I are on a date together. May and Lee are never going to believe this." She was lost in her excitement that she barely heard the door to the restroom open. A blond girl wearing a shirt signifying that she works for the theater started to walk in and Marie shoots a look of pure evil and hate at her for interrupting her. The girl sees Marie and starts to back out of the room slowly with fear on her face. When the girl is out of the room Marie laughs. "Shows her for interrupting me." She says turning to look at herself in mirror. She pulls out a tube of lip gloss and applies some to her lips, "Drop dead as always." She says admiring her looks in the mirror. "Now best not to keep Double Dee waiting." She turns and walks out the door. The blond girl is standing with her back flat against the wall by the door to the restroom and when Marie steps out she quickly runs in avoiding Marie's gaze.

"Dare I ask what you did to that poor girl?" Edd asks standing a few feet away from the door.

"I'm a bad girl remember? I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't strike fear into the hearts of the masses." She says smiling.

"How could I forget? So I was thinking, would you like to get some ice cream before we return to our homes?" He asks her scratching the back of his head and looking off to the side.

"I'd love to get some." She says to him.

"Good, well then shall we?" He asks holding his arm out to direct her on the way they need to go.

As they walk Marie makes sure to keep her had free in hopes of him taking it with his, but the confidence Edd had had in the theater was gone and he was back to being nervous around her.

'I guess I'm going to have to take the initiative if I want him to show some affection to me.' Marie thinks as she brushes his hand with hers but getting no reaction from him. She was just about to take his hand with hers when he stopped walking and Marie realizes they are standing in front of the Dairy Queen inside the mall.

"Any idea what you would like?" He asks her as she quickly hides her hand behind her back.

"Oh, um a cone of chocolate will be fine." Marie says sounding guilty.

"Ok, I think I will get a vanilla one myself." Edd says stepping up to the counter to place their order.

'I'm not giving up on that hand of his.' Marie thinks watching him place the order.

They get their cones and are walking away from the shop. "Want to start walking back home?" Edd asks as they approach the doors of the mall.

Thinking that this is her last chance to spend time with him Marie says; "If you want to we can." 'What the hell? I don't want to leave yet, mouth what are you doing?' She thinks unsure why she had said what she just said.

"Alright then." Edd says feeling sad that she ready to leave.

They are still eating their ice cream as they walk down the sidewalk, Edd being right handed has his cone in his right hand and Marie sees this shifts her cone into her left hand. Not wanting to make him drop his cone she waits till he is not taking a bite from it to slide her hand into his and laces her fingers with his. Edd was surprised by her taking his hand, barely bending his neck he looks down at their hands joined and feels his heart start to race. He looks up at her face and sees her smiling as she looks forward like nothing significant had happened.

'We are holding hands! Ok Eddward this is no big deal, it's what all couples do when they walk together. Wait did I just refer to us as a couple? I can't make that assumption without even asking her how she feels about me. Come now Eddward you very well know how she feels about you, she likes you and you like her. Don't make this more complicated than it needs to be, just enjoy holding the hand of the girl you like.' Edd thinks as they walk down the street. Lost in his thoughts Edd hadn't noticed that he had started to squeeze Marie's hand, not hard but genital enough to make her think he wants to hold her hand.

Feeling him squeezing her hand made her feel like her heart was going to jump out of her chest. But she keeps control of her emotions (a lot better than Edd has been doing) and just squeezes his hand back as they walked down the street in silence.

After almost an hour of walking in silence, ice cream eaten and hands still together they reach Marie's trailer and she lets go of his hand to turn to face him. "I had a lot of fun today Double Dee."

With a smile Edd says; "I did too Marie." He starts to feel nervous about what he is about to ask her. "I was wondering, if you'd like to that is, maybe want to walk to school together tomorrow?" He asks rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"Are you asking as friends or something else?" She asks back wanting to hear him say what she wants him to say.

Edd looks away from her, his embarrassment starting to rise. But he takes a deep breath and pushes it down knowing he needs to "man up" for this. He looks back at her and says; "If you want it to be Marie, it can be as more than just friends."

Her eyes light up. "As in like a couple?" She asks her joy reaching the boiling point.

"Well um, yes. If you want it to be." He says asking her out in his own way.

She squeals and jumps at him wrapping her arms around his neck. "Yes Double Dee yes! You have no idea how happy I am!" She says then kisses him answering him.

Edd himself was happier than he's ever been as well. He wraps his arms around her holding her close to him kissing her back. Gone are any uncertainties he had about Marie and himself, he knows without a doubt that he likes this girl and she likes him back. Sure he didn't know all there is to Marie Kanker, but that is part of being in a relationship with someone. You learn things about them you didn't know before, strengthening your bond with them.

They finally broke their embrace but kept their arms around each other.

"You know Double Dee, this is also a great way to stop me from casing and stocking you." Marie says as smiling at him.

Edd laughs. "I assure you Marie that was not my intention when I asked you out on a date this morning."

"I had a feeling that you meant today to be a date." She says moving her hands from behind his head to on top of his shoulders.

"Was it that obvious?" He asks.

"You forget Double Dee, I've been chasing and stalking you for about four years now. I know you and how you word things, plus why else would you want to spend the day with me instead of going to school?" She says leaning back in his arms and keeping her hands on his shoulders.

"And I thought you were just chasing me around, but here you were studying me. I have to say I'm flattered." He says amazed that she knows things like that about him.

"I wouldn't say I studied you, more like I paid attention when I was around you." She says admitting what she really did to learn about him. "I can't wait to tell May and Lee that we're boyfriend and girlfriend, they are going to freak."

"I'm sure Ed and Eddy will be completely shocked when I tell them."

"I can be there with you when you tell them if you'd like?" Marie offers.

"It couldn't hurt for them to see us together when I tell them. And if they can't accept us being together, they will just have to learn to live with their unhappiness."

Marie giggles as she stands up straight as she takes her skull button off of her shirt and starts to attach it to Edd's hat.

"Why are you doing that?" He asks watching her atach her button to him.

"I'm showing the world that you are starting to go against the status quo and becoming a little bit of a bad boy from me corrupting you." She says when she finishes with her button.

Edd laughs. "I'd like to see you try and take me off my gentlemen's path."

Marie hugs him and rests the side of her head on his chest. "I never want you to stop being a gentleman Double Dee, you wouldn't be you if you did."

"And I wouldn't want you to stop being a bad girl." He says as he hugs her back.

"I really don't want to, but I think it's time I go and face the music." Marie says picking her head up from his chest.

"I should be getting home as well, Mother and Father are most likely home by now and are wondering where I am." Edd says not wanting to leave Marie but knowing he should.

Marie kisses him once more. " See ya Double Dee." She says and they let go of each other. She turns and starts walking up to her trailer and stops right at the door and turns back to face him. "Bye bye boyfriend! I'll see you tomorrow!" She yells loud enough for her neighbors to hear.

Edd laughs at her yelling goodbye. "Goodbye my girlfriend."

Marie blows him and kiss and turns to open the door. Edd turns around smiling and starts to look forward to the next day of school, but not because of learning anything new. As he start his walk home he hears her door close followed by Lee yelling; "Where the hell have you been?" and laughs at the thought of what the conversation will be like between his girlfriend and her sisters. On his way back home Edd thinks of how much has changed over this one weekend and all he has learned about Marie.

"This weekend turned out better than I ever thought it could have." He says as he jumps the fence into the lane next to the cul-de-sack.

**AN: And there you have it, the end of their weekend alone together. But its not the end of this story, I have eleven more chapters planned out (you can thank getting to the midnight premiere for Transformers almost an hour early for that) so more will come. I reread the past three chapters and I did see all the spelling and grammar errors and I do apologize for that. I edited this one in Google Doc's in hopes that I wouldn't miss any. At the moment of writing this the story has almost 950 views and I have to say thankyou to everyone that took the time to read this, it gives me a boost in my confidence in my writing skills knowing that people are enjoying this story.**


	5. Chapter 5: Tuesday

Edd's alarm goes off at seven AM and his eyes snap open and he reaches over and flips the alarm off. He takes a deep breath and smiles as he pulls off his covers and swings his legs over the edge of the bed and into his slippers. He stands up and turns around to make his bed, once he is done he turns to leave the bedroom and enters the bathroom. Inside the bathroom he turns on the light and looks at himself in the mirror and again slimes as he looks at himself. He didn't have bags under his eyes this morning, he hadn't had a long night for several days and has gotten a lot of sleep over the weekend. His hair that he no longer hates is a big mess as usual. He looks away from the mirror and turns the shower on to prepare for his morning washing. 'This is going to be a fantastic day, I can feel it.' He thinks as he climbs into the shower.

When Edd finished getting dressed for school, wearing another a while dress shirt and a black tie and a pair of black jeans, he picks up his hat and sees Marie's button on it. He again smiles as he looks at it, he decides to leave it on and pulls his hat on with his hair hanging around his head and makes his way downstairs for breakfast. While eating a bowl of cereal there is a knock on the front door like there is every day.

He sets his spoon down next to his bowl and walks over to the door. "Good morning Eddy, good morning Ed." He says opening the door to let his two best friends into his home.

"Hey Sock Head." Eddy says walking into Edd's house.

"Hi ya Double Dee." Ed says following Eddy inside the house.

"So where were you yesterday Double Dee? The teachers were asking us about you, and what's with your hair?" Eddy asks as the three Ed's walk back into the kitchen. Eddy was surprised that Edd is showing his hair. Edd's two best friends had known for a very long time that he did not like his hair and had been hiding it under his hat.

"I'm just ready for a change with it and I had other things to attend to yesterday that kept me from school." Edd says answering Eddy's questions.

Eddy was about to question his answer when there is another knock on the door.

"Excuse me gentlemen." Edd says as he leaves to answer the door.

'Who would be knocking at his door this early?' Eddy thinks as Edd leaves the room.

Edd had guessed that it was Marie at his door and when he opened it his suspicions were proven correct. She was wearing a black t-shirt with the neck cut open a few inches with a white dress shirt over it that was missing its sleeves and the top 3 buttons undone. In her hair on the right side was dark red bow and she had on a black skirt with a plaid patches sewn onto it being held up by her signature pink belt.

Before Edd could greet her she grabs his tie and pulls him into a kiss.

Edd returns the kiss and wraps his arms around her to hug her.

When they brake the embrace he says; "Good morning Marie."

"Morning Muffin." She says still holding onto his tie. She gets an idea and her wicked smile crosses her face. "I'm taking this." She starts to us do his tie so she can slip it over his head.

"Why might I ask why are you taking my tie?" Edd asks her as she slips it over his head.

"I wanna wear it." She says as she pulled it down around her head and adjusting it to fit her, but left it loose enough to match the rest of her outfit.

Edd sinkers at her reasons and says; "Ok, just promise to return it at the end of the day? It's the only black tie I own."

"I will." She says undoing the top two buttons of his shirt.

Eddy was starting to wonder what is taking Edd so long to answer the door so he decides to go and see. "Yo! Double Dee, what's taking you so long?" He says walking into the front room and sees Edd letting someone into the house. At first he didn't recognize the person coming into the house, but when he sees the blue hair he realizes that it is Marie. "What is she doing inside your house?!" He yells shocked to see a Kanker being let into Edd's house.

Right as he asked this Ed walked into the room. "Hey Eddy why are you yelling? Oh hello Marie." He says seeing Marie. Ed never found Marie as terrifying as May or Lee so he wasn't scared when he saw her.

Eddy grabs Ed and yells at him; "Ed that's a Kanker sister! Something is going on!"

"But Eddy its only one of them, and it's not May or Lee so we are not in any immediate danger." He says as Eddy shakes him.

While Eddy is yelling at Ed, Edd has closed the door and is standing with Marie next to him holding her hand. "Haven't told then yet I'm guessing." Marie says as she watches Eddy shake Ed.

"I was just about to before you arrived." He says as he watches his friends.

Eddy was still trying to get his friend to see why it is bad that a Kanker is in Edd's house. "Ed remember where one Kanker goes, the others are sure to follow."

Marie whistles stopping Eddy. "Have you thought to ask Double Dee why I am in his house, or even use your eyes to see what is going on?"

Eddy dose look at them and sees the skull pin on Edd's hat and his tie is gone along with his shirt unbuttoned. He also sees that Marie is wearing Edd's tie and is holding his hand. "Double Dee, what the hell is going on man?" He yells.

Annoyed by Eddy yelling he tells him; "I will tell you Eddy only if you stop yelling inside my house. So please sit down and shut your trap."

Marie giggles at Edd using an improper term as "Shut your trap."

Eddy reluctantly agrees and drops down onto the couch followed by Ed. Edd is happy that Ed had finally joined the rest of the modern world in the activity of a daily shower. Edd stands before them still holding Maries hand as he tells his two best friends the tail of how Marie and him had spent the weekend inside the school together. He left out the parts about her being scared of the dark or when he got too excited when they were playing around and her drawing him as well as the whole pool incident thinking these events were too personal to tell Eddy and Ed. He then tells them how he had asked her out on a date after then got out of the school Monday morning and they spent the day together at the mall.

"And so Marie is my girlfriend now, and I would appreciate it if you wouldn't do anything to try and ruined it Eddy." Edd says finishing his recap of the weekend.

"I saw something like this in movie once, except for the hero and his lady were hiding from the mutant space monster from Galvon five. But in the end they lived happily ever after". Ed says. Edd takes it as Ed's way of saying he approves or that he doesn't quite understanding what is going on.

Eddy however doesn't say anything, he just gets up off the couch and says; "come on, we're going to be late for school".

Edd shrugs and thinks maybe he just needs time to think over Marie and him being together.

On the walk to school Marie and Edd where a couple of feet ahead of Ed and Eddy holding hands and talking.

"So how did your sisters react to you telling them about us?" Edd asks.

"Well Lee was a bit mad at me for being gone all weekend." Marie says as she starts to swing their hands back and forth.

"I did hear her yell wondering where you had been." He says remembering hearing Lee yelling at her.

"So I told her the truth, I said I was spending time with my boyfriend. That really confused her and May." She says snickering.

"Lee then asked me if I found someone other than you. And I told her that there is only one boy good enough for me to call my boyfriend. Lee didn't understand but May did, her eyes went all wide as she said "wait, Double Dee? But how did you pull that off?" The look on Lee's face when May said that was hilarious." She laughed at the memory of her sister's expression when she told them she is Edd's girlfriend.

"I then told them of how we spent the weekend together in the school. How amazed I was that you were able to open the closet door, you doing all those gentlemanly things for me and you even letting me fix your hair. The first a real kiss I gave you after we played around tickling each other and how I tricked you into going swimming and the fun we had and the amazing kiss we shared in the water." She started smiling as she gave him the shortened version of her retelling of their weekend together.

Edd was a little embarrassed that she told her sister of their more intimate moments together. "I'm surprised that you told them much."

"I didn't plan on telling them everything, but I just couldn't help but brag to them that not only did I get you all to myself for the weekend but now I have you as my boyfriend. And after I told them about you asking me out on a date May started drilling me with questions, she wanted to know how I swayed your option of me." Marie says explaining why she told her sisters as much as she did.

"Sounds like May is quite interested in our recently formed relationship." Edd says amazed that May was interested in his and Marie's relationship.

"She told me that she's really happy for the both of us after she was done asking me questions."

"Well that is good to know." Edd was happy to hear that May was happy for her sister.

"Lee however just said good for me and went off to bed leaving me and May to talk. I think she's just jealous of me or mad that her way of getting boys to like us is the wrong way." Marie wouldn't say it, but she wanted both of her sisters to be happy for her and Edd. The Kanker sisters have been through everything together and the last she wanted was for her older sister to be unhappy because Marie had done the previously though undoable of getting Edd to like her.

Edd had taken notices that Marie had grown silent and her smile lessened. "Is something wrong Marie?" He asks concerned for her.

"It's Lee, I want her to be happy for me."

"I'm sure she is, maybe it's like you said. She's just jealous because she can't get Eddy to like her, but you got me to fall for you." He gives her hand a reassuring squeeze and a warm smile.

His gentle squeeze and smile worked to make her feel better. 'He's right' she thinks as she squeezes his hand back 'so Lee might be a little upset, but we are Kanker's after all.' She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks Double Dee, you have a way of making me feel better."

"Always glad to be of assistance."

While the fresh young couple were talking the other two Ed's where having a conversation of their own.

"I still can't believe this Ed, a Kanker is stealing our friend away from us." Eddy says sulking as he walks next to Ed.

"But Eddy Double Dee isn't stolen, he's right in front of us." Ed says pointing at Edd ahead of them.

"Not literally Ed, but mark my words, she'll turn our friend against us. I'm sure that those Kanker's are planning something."

"But Eddy, did you ever think that through the strange turn of events that have befallen Double Dee and Marie that they have found something in each other that no one else has seen? It might just be puppy love Eddy, but love is a complex and amazing thing. No one can truly explain the things we do when we find someone that makes your hearts race and fills your stomachs with butterflies. It's a simple word love, but it's the most complex emotion known to mankind." Ed jesters with his hands as he uses a strange boost of intelligences to try and reason with Eddy.

Eddy was amazed by Ed's advanced use of the English language. "Ed you ok man?" He asks concerned for his friend.

"I a Eddy!"

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head this morning?" Eddy asks trying figure out where Ed got the sudden IQ boost.

"No I didn't Eddy, but thanks for asking." Ed says oblivious to what is going on like normal.

Not wanting to admit that Ed had just given him a good reason as to why Edd is dating Marie he just shook his head and walk along in silence.

When they reach the school parking lot Edd sees the rest of the kids from the cul-de-sack once again hanging out next to Kevin's car.

Marie was a little worried about what they will say when they see her with Edd.

"Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend was an enjoyable one." Edd says when they reach the other kids.

The kids did not greet him back, they all just looked at him wide-eyed as he stood there holding Marie's hand. Marie began to feel uncomfortable as the kids just stared at them.

Nazz was the first one to say anything. "Umm Double Dee, why are you holding hands with Marie and is she wearing you tie?" She asks breaking the silence that has fallen over the group.

"Well you see, after events that took place over the weekend I see Marie in a different light and have become infatuated with her. So I asked her out on a date and we are now a couple." Edd says giving the rest of his friends the very short version of what happened over the past few days.

Nazz just looks at the two of them for a few seconds mulling over what he just said, then she shrugs and says; "As long as you're happy Double Dee, oh and Marie. I like your ensemble, a bad girl school girl look, very nice."

Marie was surprised at how quickly Edd's friends accepted her dating him. "Um, thanks Nazz, your pink sun dress is nice too." She says returning the compliment.

"Welcome to the wonderful world of dating man." Kevin says as he slaps Edd on the back.

Edd had expected his friends to question him on what happened that lead to him and Marie becoming a couple, but he was happy that he didn't have to explain the reasons for being with Marie.

Eddy couldn't believe that his friends are ok with Edd and Marie being together. "I can't believe this Ed, they are ok with a Kanker being in out mists." He said quietly to Ed next to him.

Eddy thought he said it quietly enough for just him and Ed to hear but Edd had heard it too. With a look of annoyance on his face takes a deep sigh and turns to Eddy; "Eddy, would you mind coming over here?" He asks knowing he needs to bite this in the butt before Eddy can cause any trouble.

Eddy walks up to Edd and asks; "What do you want Double Dee?"

Edd grabs him by the shirt collar. "Look Eddy you are one of my best friends and I love you like a brother, but you are going to have to accept the fact that I am in a relationship with Marie Kanker. I like this girl Eddy and she likes me back, so be the grownup person you always claiming to be and be happy for me for once damn it."

Eddy has only ever been scolded by Edd like that once before and it was on the trip to his brothers place. Edd had a look of anger in his eyes and Eddy sees that he is serious and says; "Fine, whatever you want."

Edd lets go of him; "I am sorry for raising my voice everyone."

Ed suddenly picks up both of his friends in one of his bear hugs saying; "Nothing can break the bonds of our fellowship, not even a trip to a volcano."

Marie giggles at them. 'They really are like siblings.' She thinks as she watches Ed death hug the other two. When Ed finally let go of his best friends the other kids started to laugh at them, it wasn't a mocking laugh like they use to do years ago. It was a friendly laugh and Marie couldn't help but join them in laughing. "Looks like I'm being a bad influence on you again Double Dee." She says when they laughter dies down.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean Marie." Edd says unsure of what she was talking about.

Everyone again started laughing at Edd's confusion and Marie kisses him on the cheek. "Don't worry about it cutie." She says as she laughed along with the others. She had only been standing there with Edd and his friends for a few minutes, but she was already starting to feel accepted by them.

The bell rings signaling the start of the school day, Kevin locks his car and the kids make their way towards the school.

Inside Edd and Marie stop at a crossroads in the hallway, She had a different home room than Edd that was down the other end of the hall.

"I guess this is where we part ways." Edd says turning to face her taking her hands into his.

"For now anyway." She says smiling up at him.

"Would you care to join me for lunch later?" He asks her.

"Of course I would Muffin." She says as she leans up to kiss him. He pulls her into a hug as he returns the kiss.

"Hey get a room you two!" Johnny yells at the two of them then runs off laughing.

This cause them to break the kiss, Edd's face was a little red and Marie snickered at Johnny's comment to the two of them

"Well I guess I will see you at lunch then." Edd says letting go of Marie.

She gives him a quick kiss on the cheek then says; "See you later, space cowboy" and starts walking down the hall away from him. Edd had no idea what that meant but he couldn't help but snicker as he watched her walk away enjoying the view of his girlfriend walking down the hall, something he's never done before.

When his home room teacher questioned Edd as to where he was he didn't think telling them that he ditched school to go out on a date would be a good idea.

"Well you see, my parents had asked me to take care of a family friend that wasn't feeling well. They must have forgotten to inform the school that I was to out for the day." Again thanks to Edd's reputation of being an upstanding student the teacher believed him.

"So gentlemen." Edd says to his friends as the teacher goes back to roll calling the room. "How was your weekend?" He asks trying to keep thinks the same between the three of them.

"We went down to the mall on Saturday and Eddy turned in a lot of applications. I also got a few to fill out myself for after my birthday." Ed says answering Edd's question. Edd was happy for his friends and proud of Ed for taking an interest in his near future. His birthday was still a few months away, but Ed really wanted to get a job to prove to his mom that he is growing up.

"Very good Ed, and you too Eddy. If you would like Ed I can help you fill them out today after I get home from Work." Edd says praising both of his friends on their efforts to find jobs.

"Thank you Double Dee." Ed says tanking Edd for his help

In art class Marie asked the art teacher where she moved her work to. "Oh I took them home with me over the weekend, I'm putting together a portfolio of students work to show to a friend that teaches an art class at the community college. She was quite impressed with a few of your drawings." The teacher says answering Marie's question. "I can bring them back if you would like." She adds.

"If I could just get a few certain ones back that would be fine." Marie was amazed that her teacher though her work was good enough to show off.

When the class ended Marie pulled her drawing of Edd out from its hiding place and carefully rolled it up to take home. She places the drawing into a cardboard tube and put the tube into her backpack.

The rest of the day goes by almost like any other normal school day, and because Ed and Eddy once again screwed around during English they had to stay behind to be scolded by the teacher for not paying attention. This left Edd to walk to the lunch room alone and when he reached the cafeteria he looked around to see if he could find Marie. But he didn't see her right away and started to wonder where she is.

"I wonder where Marie could be?" He says to himself as he gives the room another look around. "I do hope she didn't get into any trouble"

Edd didn't notice someone sneaking up behind him. "Boo!" Marie says as she wraps her arm around Edd to hug and surprise him.

Her sneak attack on him caused him to jump but he recognized the sound of her voice. "Marie, you scared me."

"Sorry Double Dee, I couldn't help myself." She says laughing and hugging him.

"It's quite alright, I guess I should get use to your antic's." He says as he turned around to face her.

"That you should, now let's go get some food." Marie says as she grabs his hand and they walk over to join the lunch line que.

They were still holding hands while they were waiting in the line, Marie kept seeing people stare at them and she couldn't help but enjoy there confusion.

After they get their food, they go and sit down at the Ed's usual table. "So did your parents say anything when you got home yesterday?" Marie asks him as she starts eating her lunch again minding her manners for Edd.

"They did notice that I was late getting home on a school night with no work after school. When I told them that I was with my recently acquired girlfriend they just told me "as long as she doesn't affect your school work"". He says adding air quotes with his hands to show he was quoting his parents. "I was hoping for more of a reaction from them. Like a "good for you", or a "I'm happy to hear that son". Hell even them wanting to know your name would have been fine." Once he finished his little rant about his parents and their lack of interest in his social life, Edd rests his head in his hand that is propped up on the table by his elbow.

"Hey" Marie says as she starts to gently scratch and play with the hair the back of his head, she's really started to like playing with his hair and Edd himself finds relaxing. "Don't feel bad Double Dee, one way or another your parents are going to learn of my existence. And if they don't care to learn of me now, they can find out all about me when the cops are dropping us off one night." She says trying to joke to make him feel better.

The idea of Edd being dropped off by the police made Edd start to giggle. "Oh my, that would be humorous, Mother and Father would probably pass out from the shock of it all. I just hope you are not planning to get me into that big of trouble already."

"I've yet to be brought home by them, but with your brains and my evil ways I'm sure we could find something big and bad enough to give ourselves a ride in the back of a squad car." She says dawning her wicked smile.

Edd just laughs at her feeling better and she joins in on the laughter.

Across the lunch room Lee and May are sitting at a corner table watching Marie and Edd. May is happy that her sister had gotten Edd to return her affection. Lee however won't admit it to anyone, but she is secretly jealous of her sister.

"Why are you being so quiet Lee?" May asks breaking the silence between the two of them.

"I can't figure it out, we did exactly what mom said to make guys like us, yet she spends one weekend being nice to him and he falls head over heels for her." Lee says glaring at her sister and her boyfriend from under her hair.

"Well maybe being mean only works for guys mom's age, but not the boys in our class. Maybe if we start being nice to the Ed's they too will start to like us back." May says trying to reason with her oldest sister.

"Don't you dare talk bad about mom! We are Kanker's, and Kanker's are too tough to be nice to people." Lee says scolding her for talking bad about what their mother told them.

"I'm sorry Lee, it was just an idea. A bad one even." May say apologizing but secretly she try to think of ways to get Ed to like her.

Back at Edd and Marie's table Edd had just told Marie that he has work after school and has to leave for that right after.

"That's fine, I didn't expect you to spend all of you time with me, just most of it." She says joking with him.

Edd laughs at her joke just as Ed and Eddy sit down at the table. "Greetings gentlemen, I hope Miss Marpole wasn't too hard on you."

"Hi ya boys." Marie says greeting them.

"Hello." Is all Ed says before he starts to shovel his food into his mouth.

Eddy however still doesn't like Marie so his greeting isn't very friendly. "Double Dee, Marie." Is all he says looking at each of them as he said their names.

"Still unhappy with me Short Stuff?" Marie says when he greets her rudely.

"I'm not short!" Eddy snaps back at her.

"Eddy, please be nice." Edd tells his friend.

"She started it." Eddy says crossing his arms and looking away from them.

Figuring its best to just let Eddy stew in his own unhappiness, Marie asks them; "So how have you boys been?" Trying to be nice to them.

Ed had quickly inhaled his food while the others were talking. "I am doing good." He says wiping his mouth with a napkin. Eddy pretends he didn't hear her question and eats in silence.

"So what do you boys normally do for fun?" Marie asks wanting to know more about her boyfriend and his friends.

"What do you care?" Eddy snaps at her.

"Well seeing as I am the girlfriend of one of your best friends now, I figured I'll probably be spending some time with the three of you. So I thought it would be a good idea to learn more about you two and maybe become friends with you." Marie says answering his question.

Eddy didn't have a response for her, he didn't think she'd have a real reason for asking about him or Ed. So he did the one thing he could, do ignore her. "Whatever" he says as he went back to eating his own food.

"Well we tend to watch quite a few monster movies at Ed's" Edd says answering Marie's question.

"And we play video games at Eddy's" Ed adds.

"Yes that too, we also work on homework at my house during the school year." Edd says adding to the list of things he and his friends do.

"And play video games at Kevin's" Ed says repeating himself say for whose house they play video games.

With a laugh Edd says; "Yes we do that too."

"I've also been going with Eddy to the gym when Double Dee is at work, though I just read my comic books while he works with Kevin."

"I try and get these two to join me in the wonderful enjoyment of read, but I have yet to find a book they like." Edd says as he finished his lunch.

"Reading, movies and comic books, and working out. You guys really are different from each other." Marie says pointing at each of them as she named off their favorite hobbies.

"It is not what we have in common that binds our friendship. It's what makes us different that makes us such close friends." Ed says again using a strange boost of intelligences.

"Ed, that was very well worded." Edd says amazed by what Ed had just said.

"He said something like that this morning." Eddy says not looking up from his tray of food.

Edd was amazed that Ed had said something so well worded, it wasn't like him at all. Ed is known for short statements that usually make no sense.

"Ed, are you feeling ok?" Edd asks wanting to know if his friend is feeling normal.

"I'm doin Double Dee." Ed says, but Edd wasn't convinced. Edd was about to question him some more, but as luck would have it, the bell rings ending the lunch break.

"Well that was fast." Marie says as she stands up from the table.

"It strangely was." Edd says standing as well.

"Care to walk me to class Double Dee?" Marie asks in a flirting way.

"I assumed you'd walk with us, seeing as we have the same class." Edd says her flirtation going right over his head.

"Well yeah, but its one thing to just walk down the hall together. It's another to be walked to class by your boyfriend." She says smiling.

"Oh well in that case, will you allow me to escort you to gym my lady?" Edd says smiling and holding his hand out to her.

Laughing she takes his hand. "I love for you to."

"Oh geese, let's get out of here Lumpy and leave these two alone." Eddy says as he grabs Ed jacket walking away pulling Ed behind him.

Marie sinkers as Eddy drags Ed away from her and Edd. "I guess he doesn't like us flirting."

"I'm sure he's fine, he's probably just cranky." Edd says as he watches his friends walk away.

In gym they are once again playing dodge ball, but today was different. Edd was looking forward to having a class with Marie, even if it was the class he like the least. Edd thought it was lucky that Marie and him were put into the same team together, but he would look over to Marie and get distracted by her and kept getting hit out. By the end of the class he was more bruised and beaten than he's ever been after a gym class. Marie had quickly changed and was waiting for him outside the locker room.

"That was painful." Edd says when he sees her after coming out of the locker room.

"What were you doing? You're normally not that bad at dodge ball." Marie asks him when he reaches her.

Blushing a little Edd says; "I kept getting distracted."

With a hint of seduction in her voice she wraps her arms around his neck and asks; "Was I the cause of your distraction?"

Edd smiles and says; "Yes."

Marie was just kidding with her question and when he admitted that she was the cause of his distraction she laughs and gives him a little kiss. "Sorry for taking your attention away."

"It's ok, I've been through worse and came out alive." He says smiling.

Throughout the rest of the day Marie thinks about how she couldn't believe her and Edd are finally together, and she hopes it all isn't a dream. She replayed the weekend over in her head and is amazed at how it only took a weekend alone with him and being nice to him for her to land her dream boat.

At the end of the day Marie was waiting for Edd at his locker, and when he arrives she kisses him. The news of the two of them getting together hadn't spread all over the school yet so there were a few gasps when Edd hugs and kisses her back. Everyone knows of that Ed's and the Kanker's, being the most feared girls in the school, have been anything but friendly to each other. So a lot of the kids in the hall couldn't help but stare at them. Edd looks up and sees people staring at them and says; "Yes we are dating, so if you would kindly stop staring and deal with in."

Marie laughs. "You're becoming more of a bad boy every time we are together."

"I'm just sick of people pestering me about us. All day kids that saw us this morning or during lunch kept asking me questions about the two of us and I am tired of it all." He says as he opens his locker.

"I'm sorry Double Dee." She says feeling bad that people have been pestering her boyfriend.

"It's not her fault people are nosey." He says taking books from his bag and putting them into his locker.

"I could always beat them up." Marie offers.

Edd looks over to her and asks; "You like hearing herself talk about your bad ways, don't you?"

Marie slimes and says; "Maybe."

As they walk down the hall holding hands. "So what time do you get off work?" Marie asks.

"I get off at ten this evening." Edd says as he holds the door open for her.

"So I'm going to walk home with my sisters." Marie says when Edd followed her out the door.

"That's quite alright, I did not expect you to come with me to work." He says turning to her. "So I guess I will see you tomorrow."

Marie pulls him down to her and gives him a long kiss and then says; "See you later Double Dee, sooner that you might think."

"What is that supposed to mean?" He asks after they break the kiss.

"It's a secret." She says then kisses him on the cheek and walks off. Edd watches her walk away before he remembered that he had to get to work.

On her walk home with her sisters May questions Marie on what she did to get Edd to like her, she wants to be able to sit there and talk to Ed like Marie did with Edd.

"I was just nice to him." Marie says answering May's question.

"That's it? You were just nice to him?" May says confirming what her sister told her.

"And I told him I wasn't going to attack him and force him to kiss me, though I suspect I will never have to worry about him not wanting to kiss me again." Marie says boasting.

'I can be nice to Ed.' May thinks.

Ahead of the two sisters Lee was walking and listening to their conversation. She was still unconvinced that being nice was all that Marie needed to get Edd to like her and she just shakes her head when she hears Marie boasting.

When the sisters reach their family's trailer at the Park n' Flush Lee drops down on the couch to watch TV, May goes into the kitchen to get an afternoon snack and Marie heads up stairs to the bedroom. Up in the girl's bedroom Marie starts to dig through their shared closet looking for something.

"Where is it? I know I put it in here." She says tossing aside a winter jacket. She was just about to give up on her search but after she moves a box of May's things she finds what she's looking for.

"Ah ha! Found it." She says pulling an empty picture frame out from the closet. Marie had found the frame discarded on the side of the road on her way home from school one day. It was a little dirty when she had found it, but the metal frame wasn't rusty and the glass was unbroken. She figured she could use it sometime in the future, so she had taken it home, cleaned it off and put it away. She places the frame on the bed next to her backpack and starts throwing everything she had taken out of the closet back into it.

When she was done putting everything back she sits down on the bed and pulls out the cardboard tube from her backpack. She carefully pulls her drawing out of the tube and sets it on top of her backpack. She then takes the back off of the picture frame, quickly adds something to the bottom of the drawing. 'What luck that the frame is just a little too big.' She thinks as she places the picture into the frame. After putting the back of the frame back on she flips it around. "It looks great, I hope Double Dee will like it." She says looking at her framed drawing.

Edd's day of work was almost as boring as any other day, but having Marie to think about for the past several hours had made the day go by fast. He was in the process of wiping down the counters when his coworker comes back into the store from taking out the trash.

"Hey Edd." He says approaching Edd at the counter. "Be careful leaving tonight, there is a shifty looking girl hanging out by the exit."

"Shifty looking girl?" Edd says looking at him.

"Yeah, she looks like she might cause some trouble." He says looking at the door. "Just watch out for yourself."

Edd watches him walk into the back of the shop. 'Who would be hanging outside the shop?' he thinks.

"Hey Eddward." He hears his boss yell from the back room.

"Yes sir?" He says back.

"You can head home for the night."

"Thank you sir, have a good evening." He says as he picks up his messenger bag from its place under the counter and removing his name badge.

"You too kid." Edd's boss yells as Edd walked towards the door.

He doesn't see the blue haired girl leaning against the wall when he stepped out of the shop.

"Hey good looking, what's cooking?" The girl says surprising him.

"Marie, this is unexpected." He says when he turns and sees his girlfriend. "What brings you all the way down here?"

"I came to see you, and give this back." She says holding his tie out to him. "And I also come bearing gifts for you."

"Oh? What have you brought me?" Edd asks curious as to what she has for him.

"Well first there is this." She leans up and kissed him. "And then this." She holds out a package wrapped in brown paper.

"What is it?" He asks taking the package from her.

"You have to open it to find out silly." She says smiling.

Edd takes great care in opening the package. "Marie… I can't accept this." He says when he sees the drawing of him she had done a few days ago.

"Yes you can, I even signed it for you and everything." She says pointing to where she'd signed it. She had written: "For my favorite source of inspiration, XOXO Marie"

"Thank you Marie, I'll cherish it." Edd says after reading what she had written.

She kisses him on the cheek. "You're welcome Muffin. Now let's head home"

The two teens left the mall together holding hands. "So I had a talk with my sisters after school." Marie says as they walk down the street.

"Oh? What did you talk about?" Edd asks.

"I asked, well more like I told them to leave you alone and to not bully you. Lee and May agreed to let you be and May even said she'd lay off of Ed too. Lee however didn't say if she was going to stop attacking Eddy or not, so he may still have to live in fear of the Kanker name."

Edd was happy to hear that his days of living in fear of the sisters were officially over. Though he had guessed that now that he was dating Marie, he wouldn't have to worry about it already. "I'm sure Ed will be happy to hear that, but best not to tell Eddy that he is still a target."

"Yeah, the last thing I need is for him to have another reason not to like me."

"I'm sure he will come around, he just doesn't like change very much."

"Well he's going to be unhappy for a while then, cause I have a feeling a lot is going to change here soon."

When they reach the entrance to the cul-de-sack Edd turns to Marie. "Would care to join me in going over to Ed's to work on homework with him and Eddy?"

"I wouldn't want to invade your "guy time" Double Dee." She says answering his question.

"I understand. Have a good night Marie." He says feeling sad that he has to say goodbye to his girlfriend.

She wraps her hands around his neck and leans up to kiss him. "Good Night Double Dee." She says when they break the kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you on the Morrow." He says smiling as he looks down at her.

She giggles at him and his unique word choices, a thing about him she's always enjoyed. She starts to walk away but turns and runs back to hug him and give him one more quick kiss. "Ok this is for real this time, Goodbye Double Dee." She says letting go of him and turning to start her walk away from him again. Edd watches her walk away smiling. "This has indeed been a full day." He says to himself as he walks to Ed's house.

When he reaches Ed's house, after dropping off Marie's gift at his house. he knocks on the door and cups his hands behind his back. The door is opened by Ed's younger sister Sarah. She had grown like the rest of the kids over the years, but not much of her features had changed. She still keeps her light red hair cut short and a pink top of some kind. This time she has on a pink pajama shirt that matches her pink pajama pants.

"Hi Double Dee!" She says smiling when she sees Edd at the door. Edd doesn't see much of his friends younger sister these days, her being in eighth grade and thus still in middle school. Edd knows that Sarah had once had a major crush on him but over the years she seemed to have lost interest in him, which Edd was thankful for. He had also wounded if she was ever going to realize that her best friend Jimmy, a timid boy who is accident prone, has been in love with her for years now.

"Good evening Sarah, I trust that your brother is still awake?" He asks politely.

"Yeah, he's down in his room." She says answering his question and standing to the side to let him in.

"Thank you Sarah." He says entering the house. Edd walks through the house to the door leading into Ed's basement room stopping to great Ed's mother and father. At the bottom of the stairs he knocks on the door but gets no response.

"Ed?" He says as he knocks again confused as to why his friend hadn't answered his door. When no one came to the door after a third knock Edd opens the door and pokes his head into the room. "Ed, are you ok?" He asks looking around. Edd spots his friend sitting in his armchair facing away from the door. As he approaches his friend he could hear the sound of faint sobbing. "Ed, is everything ok?" He asks standing right behind the chair.

"Double Dee! It is not fair!" Ed yells as he jumps out of the chair and grabs Edd in death grip bear hug. Having a hard time breathing Edd barely gets out; "I can't help you if I can't breathe Ed." Listening to his friend Ed loosens his grip on Edd. "That's better, now Ed what is wrong?"

"This Double Dee." Ed says holding out a small rectangle shaped box.

Edd recognized the box to be a glasses case. "Ed did your mother take you to the eye doctor?"

"It was horrible Double Dee! They made me read from this chart with really small letters and then use this machine that looks like it would cut my face off. Then my mother told me I needed to get glasses and I have to wear them all the time." Ed says as he starts to cry again.

"Don't cry Ed, there is nothing wrong with having to wear glasses. A lot of great people wear them." Edd says trying to comfort his friend.

"But what if the other kids don't recognize me, or think I have been replaced by a clone?"

"Trust me Ed our friends will not be fooled by your new found eyewear. And if you need them to see better, who knows what will come from being able to see better." Edd says patting him on the back.

"You think so?" Ed says wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"I know so Ed. Now let's put on one of your favorite movies at get to work on those applications and our homework." Edd knew that a movie would help to Ed cheer up so he made sure to pick out one of his favorite B grade movies.

It took some cosign from Edd, but he was able to convince Ed to put on his glasses while they worked and Ed couldn't help but notice that the words in his textbooks as well as on the job applications were a lot clearer. He was also able to see the movie on his TV from a further distance and had no need to sit right in front of it to make out what was going on-on the screen. Eddy never did show up at Ed's to work on his home work with them, and when they had finished their work faster than they normally would have Edd bayed his friend good bye and left to return to his own bedroom.

After Edd had left Ed sat down on his bed and started to read his comic books, again he found it easier to read the words thanks to his new glasses and soon he was done reading all the new comics his mother had bought him. It was well after midnight so he figured it was time to go to sleep himself. After a quick change into some pajamas and putting his glasses back into their case Ed flops down on his bed and is soon asleep.

**AN: ****I hope you all enjoyed this one, sorry that this one was so long I just didn't want to split it up. The cliffhangers and unanswered questions are abundant I know. But in the end all will be answered so hold your questions, but feel free to speculate. And again thank you to everyone that has read and enjoyed the story.**


	6. Chapter 6: Wednesday

"Ed wake up!" Sarah yells down the stairs at her brother. Her yelling snapped Ed awake and he falls out of his bed when he rolled over.

"I'm up Sarah!" he yells back at her as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes. He stands up and cracks his neck as looks around his room. For years Ed had cared little for keeping his room clean, but after his mother had found mushrooms growing under his bed she had gone on a cleaning warpath. She had thrown out all his furniture and had his room re-carpeted and new drywall put in. She didn't want his room to go back to the way it was so she would come down once a week and make him clean it. His shelves full of comics and movies are all in order, his collection of movie memorial are all standing up and his clothes are all hung up in his closet thanks to her weekly visits. Along with a clean room she has gotten him to start showering daily too. At first Ed didn't like having to shower every day, but when he noticed that Edd, Eddy and the rest of his friends from the cul-de-sack stopped making comments on his odor he took to the daily activity of bathing with more interest and now years later he wonders why he didn't like them in the first place.

On top of taking him to the eye doctors, Ed's mom had also taken him shopping for some new clothes. She'd picked out the articles and Ed didn't find them to his liking, but she told him that if he didn't wear them at least once she will cut his allowance for a month. So reluctantly after his shower Ed puts on the new clothes. The lime green polo shirt and dark gray pants along with his new glasses made Ed feel out of place and not himself. Luckily Ed still had his green jacket he could wear so he had some form of comfort for the day.

After finishing his breakfast of buttered toast, and packing up some for later, along with a glass of orange juice he leaves to meet up with Eddy. Ed walked over to, then around the back of Eddy's house to knock on Eddy's back door to his room.

When Eddy opens the door, in stone wash jeans and another yellow shirt, he takes one look at Ed and starts to laugh. "What the hell are you wearing?"

"My mom made we wear this Eddy." Ed says in defense of himself.

"And those glasses, they make you look like a total nerd." Eddy says still laughing and not thinking about Ed's feeling.

"But Eddy, my mom says I need to wear them to be able to see." Ed says still trying to defend himself.

"Whatever man, come on let's get lover boy and go to school before we have to deal with more Kanker's today." Eddy says still laughing as he closes his room door.

Eddy's harsh words hurt Ed more than he showed, he knows that he would be what most people would call a "comic book nerd" or a "movie nerd" but he thinks of those as earned titles from his devotion to his fandoms. But Eddy's use of the word was just meant as an insult, so knowing that if he said anything it would just be fuel for the fire Ed just held it in and followed Eddy across the cul-de-sack to Edd's house.

When Edd answered the door he complimented Ed on his new clothes saying they "Make him look very respectable and sharp", which raised his spirits.

"Oh come on Sock Head, he looks like a total dork." Eddy says after Edd complimented Ed.

"Really Eddy? You of all people would use that particular insult? Have you forgotten the years we spent being called dorks by the other kids?" Edd says amazed at what Eddy had just called Ed.

"That's in the past." Eddy says trying to defend himself.

"Alright then, if you can call Ed hear a dork, I think it is only fair he calls you out on your unenjoyable features." Edd says crossing his arms annoyed with his friend.

"What are you talking about?" Eddy asks unsure of what Edd means.

"It's simple Eddy, if you can call Ed a dork, He should be able to call you Short Stuff." Edd says knowing he has just lit Eddy's shortest fuse.

"I'm not short!" eddy yells. His heights has always been a sore spot for Eddy, over the years he has grown along with his friends, be he still remained shorter than all his friends by attest a foot and two in comparison to Ed.

"Then Ed is not a dork, you understand Eddy?" Edd says as he smirks knowing he has him beat.

"Errrr… Fine you win. Now can we just get to school?" Eddy asks annoyed at Edd.

"Thanks Double Dee." Ed says as him and Edd walk behind the irked Eddy.

"Any time Ed." Edd says still smirking. 'I think Marie is starting to rub off on me a little.' He thinks noticing that he's been a bit tougher with Eddy.

At the trailer park Marie is finishing up helping May with her hair. "I don't get why you wanted your hair curled." Marie asks as she lets a lock of May's hair out of the curling iron.

"I just don't like it being all straight, it's too boring." May says looking into the mirror admiring her slowly changing hair style.

"This wouldn't be to try and sway a curtain tall small brained boy that we know?" Marie asks wrapping another lock of hair in the curler.

"Shut up." May snapped as she started to blush. Of course she was doing all this to try and get Ed to notice her, she's already changed into a pair of skinny jeans and purple t-shirt. As she watches her sister work she couldn't help but feel prettier, her already curled hair hung around her head. It was nowhere near as curly as Lee's but she was enjoying how her hair was turning out.

Marie snickers at her little sister's obvious embarrassment when she called her out on why she wanted Marie's help with her hair. "Just about done. Hey Lee, you ready for school?" Marie yells out the bathroom door to her sister.

"Yeah I'm ready, what you don't want to miss out on time with your boyfriend?" Lee yells back from the living room. Lee was sitting on the couch flipping through a magazine and was starting to get annoyed with her sisters taking so long to get ready.

"Don't hate me cause I got one and you don't." Marie yelled back.

"HA! Like I need a man." Lee yelled back. 'Men, who needs them' she thinks going back to her magazine.

After Marie finished May's hair the three sisters walked to school together, Marie wanted to see Edd, May was hoping Ed would like her hair and Lee was ready to get away from her sisters. She doesn't like the way her sisters have been acting, Marie getting Edd to finally like her was one thing but May going out of her way to get Ed to like her, it isn't the Kanker way.

The school parking lot comes into view and Marie smiles when she sees Edd standing with his friends. She walks up behind Edd and grabs him turning him around and pulling him down to her to kiss him.

"Good morning to you too Marie." He says when she lets go of him.

"Hey Double Dee, how's my brainy boyfriend today?" she asks as he straightens his white dress shirt and orange tie.

"I'm good now that you are here." He says smiling at her.

Lee just shakes her head and walks away from her sisters and up to the school.

Nazz watches Edd and Marie interact and thinks back to the day before and how she couldn't believe it when Edd told her and the rest of their friends that Marie and him are together. She's never trusted the Kanker sisters, especially the blue haired one dressed in a black t-shirt and ripped jeans before her. Nazz wasn't going to do anything to stop the relationship, but she was going to keep an eye on the two. The last thing she wanted was for Edd to get hurt.

"Hi Ed." May says to the tall boy who hadn't noticed that May was standing with her sister. Her change of hair and the style of clothing she is wearing didn't quite work like she had hoped, when Ed saw it was May he froze and started to panic.

"Um, Hello." He says starting to sweat.

"I like your new glasses." She says smiling up at him. Ed being the tallest of the kids in the cul-de-sack had a foot and a few inches on her so she had to bend her head back to look him in the eye. "I like your new clothes too they make you look um, very handsome."

"Ed's fear had reached its max, he has come to expect her being mean to him. But her complimenting him scared him more than being chased by her.

Ed doesn't say anything he just stares back at her and when she takes a step towards him he freaks out.

"Aaaaaaah!" He yells as he runs away from the group towards the school. This made May really sad and she frowns.

"What the hell is his problem?" Kevin asks from his usual spot next to Nazz.

"Beats me." Eddy says watching Ed run.

After the bell rang and Marie and Edd had parted ways she is walking down the hall with her little sister. "Sorry your plan didn't work." She says to her sister who's been frowning since Ed ran away as they walk to their home room.

"It's ok, I should have known it wouldn't have worked. Ed isn't nearly as forgiving as Double Dee."

"I'm sure Ed is just as forgiving, he just scares easy, something that all three of them share. I think maybe you were just too nice to him, that whole too much of a good thing thing. Maybe try showing interest in his likes will help." Marie says trying to cheer up her sister.

But it didn't work, for the rest of the day May was sad and mopping. And at lunch she just stared over at Ed as he ate with his friends and her sister.

When the Ed's reach the door to the boy's locker room they see the teacher has posted a note saying they do not need to dress down for class.

"Interesting." Edd says as they look at the note.

"Don't think on it Double Dee, the way I see it we don't have to wear those uncomfortable PE clothes today." Eddy says pushing open the door.

They put away their school bags and head out into the gym to join the girls of the class standing around.

"Ok kids." The teacher says walking out of his office carrying a binder in his hand. "The school has decided that you all need to be more cultured and are having us do the next eight days of class learning how to dance. Again this was their idea, not mine." He adds when the majority of the kids groan at the idea of dancing in gym.

"Dancing? What is staff smoking?" Marie asks looking up to Edd.

"Yeah teach, what's the deal?" Eddy asks raising an eyebrow.

"Look kids I don't like this either, but the administrators want this so let's just get the next week and a half done." The teacher says sounding less enthusiastic than the kids. As he opens the binder he says; "Ok so pare up boys and girls and we'll get started."

The kids start pairing up and Edd turns to Marie. "Care to be my partner?"

"Like you'd need to ask silly." She says grabbing his hand.

The other kids of the class paired up say for Ed, Eddy (who was shot down by every girl in the class), May and Lee.

"Ed and Eddy, you two pair up with May and Lee and we will get started." The teacher says when he sees the four of them not paired up.

The idea of learning to dance with Ed made May smile for the first time since he ran away earlier in the morning. "Looks like we'll be partners Ed." May says walking up to Ed.

Ed starts to sweat when he sees May, he had noticed that she's changed from looking like she didn't care about her looks and he did think it was an improvement. But all the years of torment had made Ed very timid around her.

"Umm…" Is all he says in response to her.

Eddy and Lee hadn't moved from where they were standing. "Eddy, go stand with Lee." The teacher says.

"I don't want to dance with her." Eddy says crossing his arms and looking away from Lee.

"And I don't dance." Lee says giving her reasons to why she didn't move.

"Then hit the bench and you two can take a zero for the two weeks." The teacher didn't care enough about the students learning to dance to send them to the office.

"Fine by me." Lee says as she turns to sit down on the bench against the wall and crossing her legs. Eddy doesn't say anything he just goes and sits down on a different bench against the same wall.

"Ok the rest of you, the first one you are going to learn is called the Waltz. Girls place your left hand on the boy's right shoulder and boys place your right hand behind the girls back." The teacher says reading from his binder.

There are giggles from both the boys and girls as they place their hands where the teacher told them to. Edd and Marie both did as the teacher told them, they didn't laugh or giggle like the rest of the class seeing as they both are comfortable touching each other.

Ed however hadn't moved. "Um Ed, are you going to do what the teacher said?" May asks him.

"Aaa." Is all he says.

Thinking she'd have to take the initiative, she takes his right hand to place it behind her back, but her touch was it for Ed.

He pulls his hand out of her grasp and starts to back away from her.

"Ed." May says walking towards him, but her advance only scared pore Ed more. He turns around and runs from the gym at full speed.

They didn't find Ed until after gym was over, he had somehow managed to climb into his hall locker to hide. It took Edd promising that he wouldn't have to worry about May for the rest of the day to get him to come out of his locker. While helping his friend out of the locker Edd spots a poster that has been put up sometime during the day. When Ed is freed from the locker Edd investigates the poster.

"Well this is oddly well timed." He says looking at the poster. The poster was advertising the upcoming spring dance at the end of the next week. Before Edd could think any more about the upcoming dance the bell rings for the start of the next class.

Marie waited for Edd at his locker and greets him just like the day before with a kiss and a hug. "Today has been a day hasn't it?" She asks when they break the kiss.

"Tell me about it, pore Ed has been in a constant state of fear." Edd says opening his locker.

"Yeah, sorry about that, I should have been more clear with May. It was a rare series of events that lead us getting together, she shouldn't have thought a change of clothes and being nice to him would change his opinion of her." She says as he digs through his locker.

"I'm sure Ed would have broken a window to escape if he ended up locked in the school for a weekend." He says when he closes his locker.

"Well I'm glad you are nothing like Ed." Marie says as she takes his hand and they walk down the hallway.

"So am I." Edd says as he gently squeezes her hand and smiles at her.

When they exit the doors of the school Marie turns to Edd and asks; "Are you working tonight?"

"Yes I am, so we are going to have to part ways again for the day."

"Alright, you have a good day of work then Muffin." She says leaning up to kiss him.

"I will try." He says after they kiss.

"Bye Double Dee." She says letting go of him.

"See you later Marie." he says as she kisses him on the cheek before she leaves to walk home.

Eddy had gone to the gym after school with Kevin so Ed had to walk home alone. It had been a rough day for him, first the new cloths and his glasses and then May scaring him twice in one day. Ed had hoped that with Marie and Edd dating that things would start to change, he didn't expect May to try and be nice to him. As he opens his door he hopes that the he was done with the stress of the day and just relax and read some comics.

"Hey big brother." Sarah says from her spot next to Jimmy on the couch.

"Hello Sarah." He says looking over to his sister and her best friend that Ed and everyone in the cul-de-sack say for Sarah herself knew had a major crush on her.

"So I heard that you're learning how to dance in gym." She says and an evil smile crosses her face. Sarah takes pleasure in tormenting her older brother, her favorite form being telling their mother lies about things he has done to her or Jimmy.

"Yeah we are." He says knowing that she is about to use this knowledge against him.

"And I hear that you were supposed to be partnered with May Kanker, but you ran away from her."

"How did you find that out?" He asks wondering how his sister found out he had ran away from May in gym.

"I have my sources, you know that wasn't very nice of you Ed."

"Sarah I've had a hard day, can you either let me be or get to the point?" Ed asks annoyed at his sister.

"You're no fun Ed. But fine, I went and told mom that you were mean to her and that you didn't want to be her partner because you thought she was ugly." Sarah says shrugging and turning back to the TV Jimmy and her were watching.

"What." He says his eyes going wide. He's never thought May was ugly and he knows he is going to be yelled at by his mother. "Sarah why did you do that?"

"Cause its fun." She says smiling.

Ed was just about to respond to her sister when he their mom yell from the kitchen; "Ed is that you?"

"Yes mom." He says as Sarah starts to laugh.

"Can you come in here please, I need to talk to you."

"Ok mom." Ed shoots a quick glare at his sister before he walks into the kitchen.

"So Ed your sister tells me that you were very mean to this May girl." His mother says to him.

"No I wasn't mom." Ed says in his defense but he knew his mother always believes Sarah over him.

"So you're saying that you didn't run away from this girl when you were supposed to be her partner in gym?" She asks crossing her arms.

"Yes I did, but you don't know May Kanker mom, she's the one that is mean to me."

"Ed that is not a nice thing to say, you probably hurt that poor girls feelings. I want you to apologies to this girl and be her partner in gym."

"But mom." He says trying to plead with her.

"No buts Ed, you will be nice to this May or I will take away your comic books."

"I… Ok mom, I will be nice to her." Ed says in defeat.

"Good, now go work on your homework before dinner."

"Yes mom." He says hanging his head as he walked out of the kitchen.

Edd half expected Marie to be waiting for him after he got out of work, but she wasn't standing at the entrance to the shop at ten o'clock when he walked out of it. 'I shouldn't have expected her to be waiting for me. Marie is anything but predictable.' He thinks as he starts his walk home.

He was really surprised when he sees her sitting on his front step twirling a stick between her fingers.

"Well this is a pleasant surprise." He says when he approaches her.

"Hey Double Dee." She says as she stands up and tosses the stick away.

"What brings you over this late?" He asks curious as to why she was at his house.

"It was May's turn to cook dinner and with her being all mopy today her cooking wasn't all that good. I had to get out of the trailer to escape the smell."

"Oh my, well mother and father are probably asleep by now but if you would like we could go into the back yard and hang out for a bit." He says suggesting something for them to do.

"Kay, but I shouldn't stay too long. I wouldn't want to keep you up all night, it being a school night and all." She says smiling

Edd sinkers. "I normally don't get a lot of sleep most nights." He says leading her around the house.

"Why don't you get much sleep?" Marie asks following Edd.

"I tend to forget about sleeping when I'm reading or working on one of my many projects."

"Your really are a workaholic Double Dee."

"I guess I am."

Around the back of Edd's house are a few patio chairs. "So how was work?" Marie asks as she sits down in one of the chairs.

"It was good, so did you see that there is to be a dance hosted by the school next week?" Edd says sitting down in the chair next to her.

"Oh yeah?" Marie says raising her eyebrow.

"Yeah, so I know it's a tad bit early and I'm guessing not your type of function, but would you care to be my date to this dance?"

Marie climbs out of her chair and sits on his lap. "Again, like you'd need to ask silly." She says quoting herself from earlier in the day as she wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him.

As the two teens sit in Edd's back yard kissing and enjoying each other's company across the cul-de-sack the simple minded Ed is laying on his bed reading one of the few real books he owns. With the help from his glasses he was able to finish his homework at a faster than normal speed. He didn't have any new comics to read, so when he had finished his school work he figured reading his book on movie special effects would be a good way to pass the time until he was ready for bed. Again thanks to his glasses he was finding his book easier to read. As Ed reads he starts to forget about how his little sister had lied to their mom about him, or how he is going to have to dance with May the following day in gym.

**AN: This is the start of the chapters that are past the original plan for the story and are going to have more from the other kids in the group of friends. The whole dancing in gym might seem a bit odd I know (I thought it was very strange back when I did it in school), but its all part of the plan, so don't worry if your not liking it. Its not that big of a plot point in the story, just a way to move the story along, means to an ends some would say.**


	7. Chapter 7: Thursday

Edd's morning was a bit rougher than normal, he had stayed up too late with Marie in his backyard and was paying for it now. He was so tired that he didn't even make his bed when he woke up and he dragged his feet as he walked into the bathroom. It wasn't until after he had showered that he noticed the mark on his neck. Thinking that it was something serious he climbs onto the countertop to get a closer look at his neck in the mirror. The mark on his neck was a long oval shape and colored like a bruise. "What in the name of?" Edd says questioning where the make could have come from. "Oh, OH! Oh my." He says when he realizes that the mark is where Marie had bit him the night before when their kissing had escalated into, then past his first french kissing experience. His face turns red as he recalled the events of the previous night. "Marie really is anything but gentile." He says poking the hickey on his neck.

Luckily the collar of his white dress shirt covered most of the mark on his neck. "I doubt anyone will notice it." He says as he buttons the last button of his shirt.

Walking down the stairs he gives off a long yawn. "Oh my." He says as he tries to blink the sleep out of his eyes. "I may need to pick up drinking coffee if I keep this up." He says as he fails to fight back a second yawn.

His walk to school with Ed and Eddy was a quiet one. Ed had been reminded by his mother that he was to apologize to May when he saw her, so he was silently dreading seeing her and Edd was still in the process of waking up fully. Eddy wondered why his friends are being quiet and guessed that the Kanker's had some involvement, but he didn't know how right he was.

When they reached the school the three boys find their friends in their usual place around Kevin's car. Edd wasn't paying attention to what his friends where talking about and had his hands in his jeans pockets as he looked off into the distance. As he stares off he spots Marie in a black tank top and green jeans with her sisters entering the parking lot and smiles when he sees her.

Edd leaves his friends and walks over to the Kanker sisters. "Hey Double Dee." Marie says when she reaches him. Her sisters hadn't followed her over, instead they stood a few parking spots away, May watching her sister with envy and Lee looking away from them crossing her arms.

"Good morning Ma-" Edd started to say but was cut off by Marie pulling him into a hug and a kiss. "-rie" he says when she lets go of him.

"I like your bow tie Double Dee, it's really cute." She says pulling on his red bow tie.

"Thanks, it just a clip on. I was too tired to put on a normal tie this morning."

"Heh heh, we were up a bit late last night, not that I'm complaining." She says smiling as she played with his bow tie.

At this point Ed had finally mustard up the courage to do what his mother had told him to do. Pushing back his instinctive fears he walks towards May feeling the sweat on his neck start to run. Her hair still had some curls to it but she didn't look anywhere near the same as yesterday, she was back to her grey sweater and was wearing baggy blue jeans.

"Um, May." He says when his is a few feet away from her.

"Yeah?" She says surprised that Ed had approached her.

Not looking at her in hopes that it would boost his confidence. "I'm sorry for running away yesterday, and I'd be happy to be your partner in gym."

"That's ok Ed... I'm ah sorry too, for scarring you yesterday." May says shocked that Ed had come to her to apologize.

Marie and Edd couldn't believe it either. "Did I miss something?" Marie asks looking from her sister and Ed to Edd.

"I'm just as confused as you." Edd says looking down at her.

"Well um, bye." Ed says as he quickly walks away from May just before the bell rings.

Marie and Edd were both looking at May who was grinning as she watched Ed walk away. "What?" She asks when she spotted Edd and Marie looking at her.

Smiling Marie says; "Nothing." She takes Edd's hand and they walk up to the school.

Later in the day Edd and Marie are standing in the lunch line together, Marie was leaning her back against Edd's chest and had pulled his arms around her. Edd thought they looked a little silly as they stood in line, but he still didn't want to let go of her. Marie however was enjoying him holding her, despite how funny the two of them looked. When they needed to move forward in line Marie wouldn't let him let go of her so their steps were a bit awkward.

Marie's eyes light up when she sees what's on the tray of one of the other kids who walked out of the lunch line. "Oh my god…"

"What's wrong?" Edd asks her.

"Nothing is wrong, in fact this lunch just got better." She says as she follows another kid's tray with her eyes.

"I don't quite follow you Marie." He says looking down at her.

"Tots." Is all she says.

"Tots?" Edd asks still unsure what she is talking about.

"Tater tots. They are serving tater tots with lunch Double Dee. I love tater tots!" She as they reach the stack of lunch trays. Tater tots happen to be Marie's favorite food and as they walked along the line she couldn't wait to sit down and go to town on her tater tots.

When they exit the line she quickly walks over to an empty table, sat down and started to eat her tater tots.

She had walked faster than Edd so when he gets to the table and sits down next to her she's halfway through her tater tots. "You weren't kidding when you said you love them."

"Mm hmm." She says smiling and nodding her head, with a mouth full of food.

Edd sinkers at her, admiring how cute she looks as she eats.

Marie quickly finished off her tater tots. "Mmmm tots…" She says as she starts to eat the rest of her lunch.

"You're adorable Marie." Edd says smiling at her.

"Shhh, don't say that so loud, people might hear you and start to think I have gone soft." She says smiling.

Knowing she was joking. "Don't worry Marie, I won't tell anyone that you have a secret soft side." He says starting to eat his own food.

"Good, I'd hate to have to hurt more people to maintain my status as the baddest girl in the tenth grade." She says stealing one of Edd's tater tots.

In gym Eddy and Lee had taken up their places on the benches against the wall and are watching the other kids in the class. Ed was working with May and was in a constant state of fear and panic, but he fought these feelings because he didn't want his mother to punish him.

"I can't believe this, now both of them are being nice. What the hell is happening to them?" Lee says crossing her arms and shaking her head.

"I don't believe it either." Eddy says agreeing with her.

At the end of the day Marie once again was waiting for Edd at his locker, a daily routine she is happy to have gotten into. Leaning up against the lockers next to his she watches the other kids walk by and if they mistakenly look at her she'd glare at them which would cause them to walk away faster.

"Striking fear into the heart of the masses again?" Edd asks when he walked up as she glared at a freshmen boy.

"You know it." She says turning and smiling at him. Edd just lets out a small laugh at her response, he's quickly getting use to Marie and her bad girl ways.

"So Double Dee, do you work tonight?" Marie asks as he opens his locker and starts to put books away.

"Nope, I have the next two nights off."

"Cool, so would you like to come over to my house today?"

Her request caught Edd of guard. "Your house?"

"Yeah, I already told Lee and May that I was going to invite you."

"Sure why not, I'm sure it will be fun."

Marie was a little worried that maybe he already had plans or he wouldn't want to come over to her home. But when he said he wanted to and that he thought it could be fun replaced her doubt with joy. "Sweet, ready to go?" She asks when he closes his locker.

Marie and Edd walk hand in hand away from the school and down the road that the Kanker sisters take on their walk to and from school. When they hit an intersection with a red light and have to wait for the crossing light to change Marie pulls Edd down to her and kisses him.

"What was that for? Not that I'm complaining." Edd asks when they broke the kiss.

"Cause I like kissing you Muffin, do I need more of a reason?" She asks letting go of his shirt.

As Edd laughs at her answer two other kids come out of a convents store down the block behind Edd and Marie. One in a pink shirt and blue jeans the other in a light blue sweater and jeans.

"See Jimmy, I told you they would have the new J-13 magazine." Sarah says as her and her best friend Jimmy walk down the street each holding a magazine.

"I'm so excited Sarah, we should head straight to your house and start reading them." The timid boy says as she looks over the front of the magazine.

"Let's go Jim-." Sarah started to say but stopped when she saw the two older teens starting their crossing of the street holding hands.

"Jimmy is that Double Dee and Marie Kanker?" She asks looking from them to her friend.

"It looks like it Sarah, I wonder what they are doing together?" He says.

"Look they're holding hands, you don't think their dating do you?" She says pointing at them when she looked back at Edd and Marie and saw them holding hands.

Jimmy being the closest hopeless romantic felt happy for Edd if Sarah's guess was right. "It could be Sarah."

"But it's one of the Kanker's, they have been bullying my brother and his friends for years." Sarah says not wanting to believe what she is seeing.

"Things changed Sarah." Jimmy says not caring as much as her about Edd and Marie dating. "Come on Sarah, let's get going." He says grabbing her wrist and gently pulling her down the street.

On their walk to Sarah's house Jimmy tried having a conversation with her but she was lost in her own thoughts about Edd and the concept of him having a girlfriend. She had once had a big crush on Edd years ago and over the years those feelings have dissipated, or so she thought. Seeing Edd holding the hand of another girl had sparked a small fire of jealousy and Sarah being used to getting whatever she wanted didn't help to stop it from growing. 'Double Dee and Marie, what is he thinking? She's a horrible and mean person, what could he possibly see in her?' She thinks ignoring Jimmy.

"Sarah… Sarah…" Jimmy says after they stood at her front door for a minute.

Sarah hadn't noticed where they were or even that she had stopped walking.

"Hey Sarah, you ok?" Jimmy asks giving her a shake.

His shake snapped her out of her train of thought. "Huh what?"

"We're at your house and you need to unlock the door for us to go inside." He says confused that he needed to explain what is going on to her.

"Oh, right sorry Jimmy." She says pulling out her house key to unlock the door so the two go into the house.

The two young kids sat at the table in the kitchen to eat an afternoon snack and read their magazines. Jimmy was happily eating apple slices while he read his magazine, Sarah however was mindlessly flipping through hers. As they sit in silence reading the front door opens and Ed walks in home from his day of school. Ed was glad to be home, he was tired and wanted to just lay around for the rest of the day. When he walks past the door to the kitchen he spots his sister and her friend. "Hello Sarah, Hello Jimmy." He says stopping to greet them.

Sarah gets an idea when she spots him. "Hey Ed I wana ask you a question." She says getting up from her chair and walking into the hallway.

"Yes little sister?" Ed says stopping at the door to the basement.

"We saw Double Dee walking down the street holding Marie Kanker's hand, what is going on between them?" She asks hoping to get to the bottom of what she saw.

Ed wasn't sure why Sarah cared about Edd, let alone Marie as well, but he didn't want to be yelled at again so he decided to tell her the truth. "They have been dating since Monday I think, but they could have gotten together some other time during last weekend. Why do you ask?"

Ed's confirmation of Edd and Marie dating hit Sarah harder than she thought it would have. "So they are dating?"

"Yep." Ed says confirming what he just said.

"And is it serious?" She asks still not wanting to believe him.

"I don't know Sarah, if they are they are. So long as she doesn't hurt Double Dee I don't care if they are dating. I've had a long day, so I am going to go down to my room and I will be up for dinner." Ed says getting annoyed by her. He opens the door and walks through it before she could say anything.

As Ed walks down the stairs to his room Edd and Marie enter the trailer park. In the past when Edd would see the sky blue trailer fear and panic would take him over, but now as he approaches it with his favorite residents of said trailer he couldn't help but feel excited that he'll be spending the afternoon with Marie.

"Will your mother be home?" He asks as the happy young couple lets go of each other's hand so Marie could retrieve her house keys from her pocket.

"No my mom works tonight, she's only off til Monday." Marie says inserting her house key into the lock.

"Shame, it would have been nice to have met her." Edd says following Marie into her home.

"You will someday, might be a while though. She's always working so we don't get to see her much ourselves." Marie says closing the door.

It clicked inside of Edd's head that her mother must work a lot to support her and her three girls. He never fully realized that Marie and her family were, for lack of a better word for it, pore. He wanted to feel bad for her, but knowing Marie if he showed any form of sympathy towards her he would regret it. Instead he took to looking at her life as full of hurdles climbed, not walls put up.

The inside of the trailer always fascinated Edd, it seemed so much bigger on the inside and he couldn't for the life of him figure it out. From the outside it looks like there is only one room, but in fact not only is there a separate bathroom, kitchen and a living room there is a whole second floor that had the girls and their mother's bedrooms.

The Living room was the room Edd was the most familiar with, the old green couch still sat in the middle of the room facing an old TV. The ship in a bottle that the Kanker's had once gone on a warpath to get back from Ed sits on top of one of the book shelves against the wall.

"Would you like something to drink?" Marie asks as Edd looks around the room.

"Oh, yes pleases." He says and follows her into the kitchen.

'What would you like to drink? We have soda and water." She asks opening the fridge door and looking inside.

"Water would be fine thank you."

Marie pours a glass of water from the pitcher in the fridge for him and pulls out a can of soda for herself. Marie realizes that she hadn't thought of what the two of them could do once they got to her home.

"So… would you like to, watch some TV?" She asks sounding unsure of herself as she opens her can of soda.

He sensed the sound of uncertainty in her voice but chose to ignore it. "I'd love to." He says smiling at her.

As they walked back into the living room the front door opens and Lee followed by May walk in.

"Oh, hello Lee, hello May." Edd greats the two sisters as they walk into.

"Hi Double Dee." May says greeting him back.

"I thought you'd be up in the bedroom by now." Lee says looking at Marie.

Her comment made Edd blush but it didn't faze Marie. "Ha, unlike you Lee I don't move too fast." She says back to her sister.

"You think you're so smart?" Lee snaps at her. Edd started to feel like the two of them were about to start a fight.

"I don't know Lee, which one of us has a boyfriend? Who you're being very rude in front of I might add." Marie says crossing her arms and glaring at her sister.

'Oh no.' May thinks watching her sisters.

Marie expected her sister to start yelling at her after her remark, but Lee just glares at her. Her remark did strike a nerve with Lee but she wasn't going to let her know. "Whatever." She says as she walks past her sister and up the stairs to their bedroom.

May looks from sister to sister before heading into the kitchen herself.

"Sorry about that Double Dee, Lee can be a bit of a witch sometimes." Marie says taking Edd's hand and leading him into the living room.

"That's quite all right Marie." He says sitting down on the couch.

Mari picks up the remote from the top of the TV and sits down next to him and turns on the TV.

As they watch TV Marie had leaned up against Edd and he had put his arm around her. Despite her sister causing a scene when she got home Marie thought the afternoon was going great.

Up in the bedroom Lee and May were working on their homework. School work was something Lee never saw a point to. "Bah! This is pointless!" Lee yells closing her math book.

"Lee, you know mom said we have to keep up with our school work." May says looking up from her own work.

"Why? What good is it?" Lee asks tossing her book onto the bed in front of her.

"Because mom wants us to graduate on time." May says answering her question.

Lee makes a few grumbling noises in response. "I'm getting hungry, isn't it Marie's turn to cook?"

"I think it is."

"Hay Marie! It's your turn to make dinner! So get your kester cooking!" Lee yells out the door.

'Shit, I forgot about that.' Marie thinks as Lee yells at her. "All right! Keep your shirt on." She yells back. "Sorry Double Dee, I guess our alone time has to end." She says sitting up. "Unless you want stay for dinner?" She asks.

"If it won't be a burden I would love to stay." He says standing up.

"Are you kidding? With your help I can get done twice as fast." She says grinning.

"So I'm being shanghaied into being your assistant?"

"He he, yep." She says smiling and pulling him out of the room.

"Ok, but fair warning I'm not that good of a cook."

Edd wasn't kidding, he really was bad at cooking but luckily Marie wasn't planning on making anything complex for dinner. She chose to make some Mac 'n Cheese with some cut up hot dogs mixed in.

Lee and May had come down from the bedroom and were watching Marie and Edd cook together. As Lee watched her sister and her boyfriend her heart would ping with jealousy every time one of them would laugh at the other. She's starting to see that maybe she was wrong about how to treat the boy's you like, and even caught herself laughing with her sisters when Edd's attempt to open the bag of powdered cheese ended with the powder covering his face.

"I'm terribly sorry Marie." Edd says wiping the powder off his face.

Still laughing. "It's ok Double Dee, we'll just improvise." Marie says opening the fridge door and pulling out a block of cheese. "Go into that drawer and hand me the cheese grater." She says pointing to a drawer at the end of the counter.

Edd opens the drawer and finds the grater. "Here you go, again I am sorry for running you plan for dinner." He says holding the grater out to her.

"Its' ok Double Dee, you can make up for it some other day if you feel that bad." She says as she starts to finely grate the block of cheese into the pot of noodles and cut up hot dogs.

The improvised dinner was different then what Edd is used to eating, that's not to say it tasted bad, just different.

"See, it's not so bad." Marie says after Edd finished his first bite.

"I guess my cooking skills are not so bad." Edd says before he takes another bite.

"Yeah you guys did a good job." May says as she shovels food into her mouth, much like Ed dose.

"It's not too bad." Lee says in between her bites.

As they ate a thought came to Marie and she started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Lee asks looking at Marie.

"I just remembered that the last time I cooked for you Double Dee was the first time we met." Maries says playfully poking him in the shoulder.

"So it was, that seems like such a long time ago. Sorry for being rude back then." Edd says remembering that he was not the best of house guests that day.

"Oh please Double Dee, I wasn't very nice either, and I think you have defiantly made up for it by now." Marie says smiling at him.

"Hey Double Dee, mind if I um ask you a question?" May says, breaking her silence of the night.

"Sure May." Edd says unsure of what she would ask.

"Well um you see I want to thank Ed for apologizing to me today but when I tried talking to him in gym he just clammed up, so do you maybe have some ah ideas as to break the ice?" May asks turning red as she lied to her sister's boyfriend. She didn't want this information to just thank Ed, she was hoping she could get him to engage in a full on conversation with her.

"Well comic books are a big think he goes on about, same with old movies. So I suggest starting there, but tread with caution, Ed can scares easily." Edd says answering her question not thinking she would have an alternative motive.

"Ok, I can do that, thanks Double Dee."

After they had finished their dinner May and Lee were sitting on the couch watching TV while Edd helped Marie wash the dishes from the meal.

"You don't have to help me Double Dee." Marie says washing a plate in the sink.

"I don't mind, it's kind of fun washing dishes again. Mother had gotten a dish washer over a year ago so it's been one less chore I have had to do." Edd says taking the plate from her and rinsing it off.

"You like doing chores, I will have to remember that." She says her wicked smile flashing across her face.

"Oh dear, what are you planning now?" He asks catching the flash of the smile he has come to know as the front for a plan involving him in.

"Nothing yet, just making a mental note for down the road."

"Planning for the future, now who's influencing who?" he says smiling and raising an eyebrow. They both laugh at Edd's remark.

With a kiss on the cheek Marie says; "You are silly."

After they had finished the dishes they went to sit outside and enjoy the cool night air. Edd was sitting on the steps of the trailer and Marie sat across his lap holding herself up with her arms around his neck.

"Thanks for coming over Double Dee." She says nuzzling her head into his neck.

"Thank you for inviting me and for letting me join you for dinner, even if I did mess up the original plan." He says wrapping his arms around her to hug her close to him.

Gently blowing at his hair she says; "You're welcome Muffin." Blowing his hair out of the way had revealed a small bruise that was mostly covered by his shirt collar. "Hey, what's this?" She asks poking it.

Knowing exactly what she's talking about but having no idea how to tell her she'd given him his first hickey last night. "Oh, that's um a… reminder of last night?" He says unsure of himself.

"A reminder of last night?" She asks sitting up and thinking over previous night. She remembers biting him and it clicks in her head. "Aww I gave you a hickey. I guess I should say I'm sorry, but that would imply that I had regrets about doing it."

Edd laughs as she continues to poke at the mark on his neck. "I wasn't expecting you to apologize, just be more careful."

"That's not very likely you know." She says turning his head to face her and kissing him.

After breaking their long kiss, Edd takes her head in his hands. "You really are an amazing girl Marie." He says looking into hers eyes and smiling.

His simple words and caring smile made her blush. "Your amazing too Double Dee." She says leaning her head into his touch.

Edd brings her to him for one more kiss. "Not that I want too, but I should be getting home, I still have my homework to do." He says after the kiss.

"I should go do mine too." She says her eyes still closed from the kiss.

Edd half expected her to get up off his lap, but after a minute of them sitting there and her not moving he figured he was going to have to say something. "Um Marie, I can't get up with you still sitting on my lap." He says not fully wanting her to get up himself.

"That's the point, I don't want you to leave yet." She says opening her eyes and looking at him.

"I wish I could stay, but it is a school night." He says trying to reason with her.

With a heavy sigh she says; "Fine, you win, but I expect compensation." She says getting up off his lap.

As Edd gets up he asks; "Compensation?" not sure what she was talking about.

"I don't know, I just want more time spent with you." She says smiling.

"I promise we'll spend time together this weekend." He says pulling her into a hug.

Marie hugs him back and then kisses him. "Good."

With a little laugh he say; "Well let me get my bag and I guess I'll be on my way."

They head back into the trailer and into the living room where Lee and May are still watching TV.

"Thank you for letting me join you this evening lady's." Edd says to the sisters as he picks up his messenger bag from the floor.

"Later." Lee says not looking away from the TV.

"See ya Double Dee." May says looking at him and Marie.

"Have a good evening." He says as he walks back out of the trailer.

Marie closes the front door after they walked back outside. Walking down the steps she says; "Good night Muffin, I'll see you on the morrow." She says stealing one of his words.

With a little laugh at her using the term marrow he says; "Goodnight to you too, cupcake?" he's not too sure about the nickname he just made up for her.

"Cupcake?" She asks raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I figure if I'm a muffin, you can be a cupcake." He says coming up with a reason for the name.

Marie starts to laugh. "Double Dee, you are adorable, I will love to be your cupcake." She says accepting her new nickname.

She pulls him into a hug and leans up to kiss him. "Bye bye Double Dee, be safe on your walk home." She says after they break the kiss.

"I always am, Cupcake." He says looking at her and using her new nickname. He slowly takes steps backwards from her letting go of her as slow as possible, and when his is just holding her hands his gentlemanly ways kick in and he bring one of her hands up to his mouth and give it a genital kiss. "Until our next meeting."

This causes Marie to blush and feel like she was melting inside. "I will never tire of you and your gentlemen's code." She says as he lowers her hand.

"Good, because I will never stop." He says smiling. When they finally let go of each other Edd says; "Well bye Marie, I'll see you tomorrow." And turns to start his walk home.

"Bye Double Dee." She says back to him. As he walks away she watches him and smile. 'He really is the best thing to ever happen to me.' She thinks as he reaches the edge of the trailer park.


	8. Chapter 8: Friday

The alarm goes off and Nazz's eyes pop open as she sits up. Yawning she looks at her alarm showing six fifteen. 'No rest for those that want to look their best.' She thinks throwing her covers off of herself. She climbs out of her bed and opens her closet to pull out her Yoga mat, after rolling it out onto her floor she stretches then starts her daily exercise routine.

An hour later she is standing in front of her closet freshly showers and contemplating what to wear to school for the day.

"Humm… Kev has his baseball tryouts today so something to go with that." She says moving hangers of clothing around thinking out loud. "The school colors are green and gold, so maybe something like that."

She reaches the end of her closet and finds a shirt from the last year's school spirit week her and the other cheerleaders all wore. "Ooo, this could work, now what to wear with it." She says pulling the top out of the closet. After some more searching she decides on a pair of jean shorts and green stockings.

"Perfect." She says after donning her chosen outfit. Tossing her pajamas into her hamper she sits down in front of her makeup vanity and starts to apply her makeup for the day.

Her task didn't take long and soon she was down in her kitchen eating her breakfast of green tea and dried fruit while browsing her Facebook news feed on her IPhone.

Right on time she gets a text message from Kevin; "Hey I'm here babe." It reads and she quickly replies; "Ok, omw."

Outside Kevin is parked in her driveway waiting to drive her to school. "Hey Kev." She says as she gets into the passenger seat.

"Hey Nazz." He says smiling as his girlfriend enters his car.

"You like my outfit? I picked it out just for you." Nazz says as she leans over to kiss her boyfriend.

"Yeah I do, but you always look good Nazz." He says starting his car. He was a bit nervous about his tryouts later in the afternoon and had even worn his lucky red shirt under his lettermen jacket. The reason he believes it to be lucky was because it was the shirt he was wearing when he had asked Nazz out during the start of freshmen year. But seeing her always helped quell his nerves.

His compliment made her smile. "Thanks Kev." She says as they drive out of the cul-de-sack.

When they reach the school Kevin pulls into a spot close to the back of the parking lot. As they are getting out of the car the first of their friends join them.

"Good morning fellow school goers." Rolf says walking up to the car.

"Hey Rolfy Boy." Kevin says greeting his tall foreign friend dressed in a faded yellow shirt and work worn jeans.

"Good morning Rolf." Nazz says greeting him.

"Hey guy!" Jonny yells energetic as always.

"Jonny!" Nazz yells back knowing it will make him happy if she returned his enthusiasm. Jonny was grinning from ear to ear as he joined his friends with his board of wood he had named Plank.

Nazz had noticed that he hadn't talk for Plank ever since his little brother was born a year ago. She guessed that all he really wanted was a sibling to play with, and with his little brother he no longer needed to have his made up friend. He still carried the board of wood around with him because he was just not ready to fully let him go.

"Looking snazzy as always Nazz." Jonny says complementing her.

Nazz wanted to return the compliment, but Johnny was wearing a plain grey shirt and baggy pants. "Thanks Jonny, you going to the baseball tryouts today?" She asks giving up on complementing him.

"I sure am, I just hope the Kanker's won't be there. They make me nervous." Jonny says instinctively looking around him.

"Yes, we have been seeing a lot of the evil sisters as of late." Rolf adds.

"It has been a strange week to say the least." Kevin adds.

"First Double Dee dating Marie and now Ed being nice to May, did something mess with the fabric of reality?" Jonny asks as he places Plank safely into his backpack.

Nazz had been thinking on this topic for the past couple of days. She, like the rest of her friends, had been so shocked when Edd told them that he is a relationship with Marie Kanker that she couldn't come up with a proper response at the time and just told him she was happy for him. "I'm sure nothing sinister is going on." She says trying to calm her friends. But she knew it was time to get to the bottom of what is going on and if Marie is in fact planning something. 'I just hope Eddy is wrong and that those sisters are not up to something.' She thinks joining in to laugh at something Johnny had said.

In art class Marie is sitting at her usual table in the corner by herself smiling while doodling her and Edd's name in her sketch book. Not paying attention to what's going on she didn't notices who sat down across from her.

"What do you want?" She asks when she see that Nazz had sat down in front of her.

The blue haired girl in a black shirt and matching skirt was the last person Nazz ever though she would share a table with, but this was the only class she had with Marie. "I came to talk."

"About what?" Marie asks putting down her pencil and closing her book.

"About you and Double Dee, I want to know if you're serious about the two of you, or if this is just another one of your tricks." She says with a serious look on her face.

"What do you care? Up until a few years ago you weren't even his friend." Marie says a little annoyed at Nazz for questioning her.

"People can change Marie." She says crossing her arms.

"And what, you think I haven't changed? I'll have you know that I am serious about me and Double Dee. After we spent all weekend together he asked me out on a date, him not me wanted us to become more than just friends. All I did was show him the side of me he's never seen and proved that I'm not just a mean girl out for her own enjoyments." Marie says crossing her arms.

"You two spent the whole weekend together?" Nazz asks dropping her arms and her eyes going wide.

"Yeah, we kind of got locked inside the school over the weekend." Marie says realizing that she said more than she wanted to.

"Really? How did that happen?" Nazz asks wanting to know more about what happened between her and Edd.

Marie started telling Nazz just the basics of what happened to her and her boyfriend over the last weekend, but she couldn't help but go into more detail as she told the story boasting about everything that happened.

While Marie told her story Nazz just sat there listening to her not saying anything. Maries face would light up every time she would mention when Edd would show affection or caring for her.

"And then he asked me if I wanted to walk to school with him. I took it as him asking me out and when I asked him if he meant as a couple he told me yes." Marie says finishing her recap of her weekend alone with Edd.

"Wow." Nazz says amazed by her story. "I'm sorry for ever doubting you Marie. If Double Dee really is happy with you then I'm happy for him, for the both of you." After hearing Marie's story Nazz believes her and is happy for Edd and his girlfriend.

"Thanks, and Nazz." Marie says opening her sketch book.

"Yeah?" Nazz asks.

"You tell anyone what I told you, you'll have to eat your meals through a straw." Marie says casually like it was no big deal she had just threatened to break Nazz's jaw if she told people what she just told her.

Laughing Nazz says; "Don't worry Marie, I won't tell a soul."

In English Nazz would normally sit next to Kevin but today she was a girl on a mission. "Hey Kev, I need to talk to Double Dee for minute." She says when they two of them walked into the classroom.

"Ok, I'll be at our desks." He was curious about what she needed to talk to him about but he knew she's tell him later, they tell each other everything after all.

She gives him a quick kiss on the cheek to thank him and goes to sit down next to Edd.

"Hey." She says setting her books down on the desk Eddy would normally sit in.

"Hello Nazz, this is unexpected." Edd says as she sits down next to him.

"I'm going to skip the pleasantries Double Dee and get straight to the point. When you first told me you and Marie were dating I didn't want to believe it. You dating the girl that tormented you for years, it just didn't seem possible. But I bit my tongue and let you be." She says jumping straight into what she wanted to talk to him about. "None of us, the rest of the gang, didn't think it was a good idea, I thought she was going to hurt you and I didn't want that."

"Well while I appreciate your concerns Nazz I can assure you that-." Edd started to say but she cut him off.

"But I was wrong, you're not that timid boy anymore and Marie's not as heartless as everyone thought. We talked last period and I see now that she does really care for you and you her. looking at the two of you I can see how great you are for each other. Your personality's complement and balance each other Double Dee, and I'm sorry I ever doubted your feeling or her motives." She says apologizing to her friend.

Edd had suspected that everyone's quick acceptance of his and Marie's relationship was just a front for how they really felt, but hearing Nazz apologies for her quick judgment of his relationship made him think that the rest his friends will openly accept it too someday.

"Thank you Nazz, it's reassuring to hear that my friends are starting to accept Marie and me being together." Edd says smiling.

"Ok, I'm glad we could talk Double Dee. I'm going to go back to Kev, I'll see you later." She says getting up from the desk.

After class ended Nazz and Kevin were walking down the hall to the lunch room holding hands. "So are you going to the team meeting during lunch?" Nazz asks looking up to Kevin.

"Yeah, I don't see the point of it. The team isn't officially formed yet." He says frowning.

"I'm sure the coach has his reasons Kev." She says as they walk into the lunch room.

Eddy had already gone off to the meeting and Ed was held back by their teacher to talk about his sudden increase in his school work. She wondered if he was cheating, but little did she know that his glasses were the cause of his work improving.

"Hey Muffin." Marie says sneaking up and hugging her boyfriend.

"Hello Cupcake." He says turning to face her using her new nickname.

Marie smiles up at her boyfriend who is looking sharp as always in his white dress shirt and black tie. "Did you miss me?" She asks.

It had only been a few hours since they had seen each other in the morning before school but he had missed her. "Of course I did." He says feeding her ego.

"So where are your partners in crime?" She asks him as they join the lunch line.

"Ed is talking to a teacher and Eddy is at a meeting for the baseball team." He says answering her question.

"Hum, would you like to sit with me and MY partners in crime?" She asks offering for Edd to sit with her and her sisters.

"Sure I'd love to." He says.

As Edd sat down with Marie at the table May and Lee are already sitting at across the lunch room Nazz watches them with a smile on her face.

"What are you looking at Nazz?" One of the girls at the table asked. Nazz had chosen to sit at the cheerleader's table for today seeing as not only was Kevin at this meeting but so was Johnny and Rolf. So instead of sitting alone she opted to join the rest of her fellow cheerleaders for lunch.

"Just watching young love." She says.

The girl follows her gaze over to Edd and the Kanker's. "Eww the Kanker's, don't look at them Nazz."

"What's wrong with them?" Nazz asks looking away from Edd and the Kanker sisters to look at the girl.

"It's the Kanker's. Not only are they the meanest girls in the school, but they have absolutely no fashion sense. I don't get what that Edd sees in that middle one." The girl says.

Even though Nazz has been in cheer with this group of girls for almost two years now she wouldn't call them her friends. "What Double Dee sees in her is his own business, and fashion sense? Says the girl who wears her pants so low her thong shows for everyone to see." Nazz says striking a low blow to the girl whose name she couldn't remember.

"Oh snap." A different girl at the end of the table says.

"Excuses me?" She snaps back.

'That struck a nerve.' She thinks as the girl's cheeks turn a little red. "Not so nice when someone says something mean about you is?" She says smiling.

The girl didn't say anything for the rest of lunch which Nazz took as a win.

In gym Edd and Marie are enjoying learning to dance, the teacher has moved them on to some more complex dance routines and every time one of them would miss step and fumble the other would playfully laugh at them.

As for Ed and May it was a different story. May had her confidence back and had chosen to try and dress more appealing again and chose a V neck royal blue T-shirt and a pair of skinny faded jeans. However Ed is still really nervous around May, even with wearing his favorite Batman shirt under his green jacket and having to keep his hands on her wasn't helping either.

Hoping to calm Ed down some May decided to use the information Edd had given her the night before. "So Ed, I was wondering if you could give me some suggestions on some comic books to read."

At the mention of comics Ed's brain starts to shift from fear to excitement.

Ed love to talk about comics and says; "Oh you got to read Batman. Any of the versions are always good."

"Versions? As in like there are more than one Batman?" May asks not understanding what he meant.

"No they are all the same person, most of the time. It's just different stories written by different people. They would change thing here and there in the story to fit their own wants for it, but the basics never really change." He says explaining what he meant.

"Ohh…. I still don't get it. Why would someone want to rewrite the story?" She asks confused still and Ed laughs at her confusion.

The significance of this laugh was lost to both of them, it was the first time Ed had ever laughed at something May had said.

As Ed tried his best to explain comic reboots to May, Eddy sat on the bench sulking. Watching Edd and now Ed talking and being nice to their respective Kanker's made him glare and shake his head.

"I can't believe those two." He says to no one in particular. "They are acting like a couple of chumps, learning how to dance."

"Tell me about it, my sisters are going soft on me. Being nice, pssh." Lee says agreeing with him verbally. But she's been watching her sisters and the Ed's too. After last night she'd decided that if this is how her sisters want to be, then she can't and shouldn't try to stop them. She would rather have them happy then her be right. But she wasn't going to stop having her fun with Eddy, which she was already making plans for later that day.

After school ended a bunch of the kids went out to the baseball field to watch the tryouts for the team. Edd didn't have work so he went with to watch, and to his enjoyment and surprise Marie joined him.

"I didn't think you would be interested in watching the tryouts." Edd says as Marie and him climb up the bleachers.

"I could care less about baseball, but watching people making idiots of themselves is an event I couldn't miss. Plus I can hang out with you and I always want to do that." Marie says as they sit down on one of the benches in the middle of the bleachers.

"I love spending time with you too Marie." He says smiling. 'It's funny, a week ago I would have thought I was mad for saying that.' He thinks as he looks over at his girlfriend smiling.

Shortly after they sat down Ed walked up the bleachers to joined them. "Hello Ed." Edd says as Ed sat down on the opposite side of Edd.

"Hey Double Dee and Marie." Ed says returning the greeting.

"Have they started yet?" Lee asks walking up the bleachers with May following.

Edd was surprised to see the other two Kanker sisters. "Hello ladies, no the tryouts have yet to start." He says as the girls sit down on the row in front of them.

"Good, I'd hate to miss any of this." Lee says as she sets her backpack on her lap and starts to dig through it.

"What are you planning Lee?" May asks watching her dig through her bag.

"Just going to make sure Eddy knows who he's playing for." Lee says as she pulls out a megaphone.

"Oh no." Edd says as Lee sets her bag down and turning on the megaphone.

"Oh yes." Lee says grinning as the boys wanting to try out for the team started to show up onto the field.

Eddy, Rolf, Jonny and Kevin are standing around together waiting for their turns to take a swing with the bat.

"You guys ready?" Kevin asks the other three.

"I'm ready Freddy!" Jonny says excited as always.

Edd was about to add to Jonny's excitement when from the bleachers comes; "Good luck out there you big lug!"

'Oh no.' Eddy thinks as he looks off to the bleachers. He recognized the voice as Lee's and he had hoped she of all people wouldn't show up. "Crap." He says as he spots the redhead in her red polka-dot shirt sitting with her sisters and his best friends.

"Hit one out of the park for me lover boy!" Lee yells through the megaphone.

"Hey Eddy, is that your girlfriend?" One of the other boys there for tryouts asks.

"She wishes." Eddy says looking away from the bleachers.

As the tryouts progressed every time it was Eddy's turn Lee would yell something flirtatious at him and the other kids would laugh making Eddy mad. 'Why won't she just shut up?' He thinks after she had yelled that she would give him a big kiss if he struck out the guy he was pitching against.

"She is really letting you have it." Kevin says as Eddy sits down next to him.

"Tell me about it, she left me alone all week and now she's hitting me harder than ever." He says dropping his mitt on the bench next to him.

"People do crazy things to those they love." Kevin says joking.

"You're an ass Kevin." He says back to his friend not liking his joke.

"It's just a joke man." Kevin says punching him in the arm playfully.

"A bad one." Eddy says as Kevin laughs.

Back up in the bleachers Lee is laughing. "This is more fun than I thought it was going to be." She says lowering the megaphone.

The other two Kanker's had laughed at most of Lee's comments, even Edd and Ed had laughed at a few of them. "You're terrible Lee." Marie says from her place resting on Edd.

"Thanks Marie, I do my best." Lee says laughing.

Nazz had once again opted to sit with the rest of her fellow cheerleaders to watch the tryouts and to cheer on her boyfriend.

"Woo go Kev!" She yells as he steps up to take his turn. He sees her and gives her a wink which she replies back to blowing him a kiss.

"Ugh, I wish that Lee would shut up." One of the girls says as Nazz sits back down.

"She's just having a fun." Nazz says surprised she's defending Lee.

"No she's ruining everyone's good time Nazz." The girl says, Nazz thinks her name is Tiffany.

"Everyone's good time? She's just messing with Eddy like she always does."

"Well her yelling is interrupting our conversations." A different girl says, this one she was sure is named Kim.

"You guys have just been talking about which of the boys you'd want to date." Nazz says getting frustrated.

"So? WE'RE just having fun." Kim says using Nazz's defense against her.

Nazz was starting to get annoyed by the group of girls. "So your fun is more important than hers?" She asks pointing with her thumb up at Lee and the others.

"Yeah, we're picking out boys, she's just harassing one." Tiffany says sounding very snobby.

With that Nazz stands up and starts to walk away.

"Where are you going Nazz?" Kim asks her.

"I'm going to sit somewhere a little more to my liking." She says walking up the bleachers. The group of girls watch her walk up to where Edd and the others sat.

"Hey, mind if I join you guys?" She asks the group when she reaches them.

"Sure Nazz." Edd says surprised to see her.

"Thanks." She says sitting down next to Marie.

"Back to work." Lee says as Eddy and the others start to partner up for the next part of the tryouts. She picks up her megaphone and yells; "Hey there big boy! I'll be waiting with a big kiss for you after you finish." She laughs at herself lowering the megaphone.

Nazz sinkers at her. "You are enjoying yourself I see Lee."

"I have to keep my man in check." Lee says smiling.

"So what happened to your other friends?" Marie asks sitting up from using Edd's lap as a pillow.

"They were just getting on my nerves." She says crossing her arms and looking away annoyed. "Stupid bunch of potato brained preppies." She says under her breath.

"Hey Eddy! You're looking good out there!" Lee yells at Eddy. This time everyone laughed along with her.

"Oh dear, Ed remember not to mention that we were laughing at him." Edd says as Marie leans up against him.

"Will do Double Dee." Ed says.

"Will you shut the hell up!" Came a yell from the group of cheerleaders Nazz was just sitting with.

"I don't think they like you Lee." May says to her sister as she looks down at the group of angry girls.

"I think you're right sis, I think we should show them how sorry we are. " Lee says as she pulls her bag onto her lap. "I was going to save these for Eddy, but I think we need to use them to make sure they know who we are." She says pulling out a couple of very large water balloons.

"Cuddle time is over Marie." She says holding a water balloon out to Marie as she sat up with her evil grin on. "May take the megaphone and when I tell you to, yell at them." She holds the megaphone out to her littlest sister.

Edd knew he should stop his girlfriend from what she is about to do, but he knew it was impossible to stop the three sisters when they are on a mission of mayhem. "You might want to take a step back Nazz." He says giving her a fair warning.

"Ready girls?" Lee asks standing up.

"Ready." Lee and May say together.

"Now May." She says.

"Hey girls! Heads up!" May yells into the megaphone.

When the group of cheerleaders looks up at them Lee says; "Now Marie." And she and her sister throw the water balloons at them.

As The balloons fly through the air at the girls their eyes grow wide as they approach.

"Ahhh!" The group of girls scream as the balloons brake over them.

"Direct hit!" May says watching the girls freak out over being hit with the water balloons.

"Remember who we are the next time you tell us to shut up." Lee yells at them then starts to laugh.

Her sisters joined in on the laughing and to the Kanker's surprise a fourth laugh came from behind them. Nazz had moved back one row on the bleacher and was laughing hysterically. "Oh my god, that was amazing. Did you see the look on their faces?" She says in between laughs.

"Huh, and here I thought you would have been against Marie and Lee attacking your friends." Edd says watching Nazz laugh.

"To hell with them, they've been jerks all day. They got what was coming to them." She says regaining her composure.

While everyone was looking at Nazz they didn't see the one girl from the group Nazz thought was named Tiffany storm up the bleachers to the.

"What the hell is your problem?!" Tiffany yells at Lee covered in water and looking extremely pissed off.

"Problem? I don't have a problem, do you have a problem Marie?" Lee says looking at Marie who moved next to her sister.

"I don't have a problem Lee, do you have a problem May?" Marie asks her little sister who took the opposite side of Lee.

"I don't have a problem either." May says as all three sisters cross their arms and glare at the girl who's starting to regret her actions.

"Humm if we don't have a problem then maybe YOU have a problem." Lee says.

"Look… I er WE just want you to… um stop yelling…" The girl says as the fear of the sisters set in.

"I'm just cheering on my man, am I not allowed to do that?" Lee says raising an eyebrow that no one could see.

"But… you were just yelling… how's that cheering?" the girl says taking a step back.

"I don't know Tiffany, I think she was cheering." Nazz says holding back laughing at the whole situation.

The girl unfortunately happens to be obsessed with cheerleading so she didn't think before she spoke. "That's not cheering, she's just yelling at people breaking their concentration. Real cheering takes skill."

"I might not have the same set of stills you and your merry band of princess have. But I know how to make you remember who we are." Lee says as she grabs her by the shirt.

"Nazz, help me." Tiffany says looking at Nazz with fear on her face.

"Sorry Tiffany, you brought this upon yourself." Nazz says still holding back a laugh.

"My names not Tiffany…" the girls says as Lee starts to drag the girl behind her as she walked down the bleachers.

"May, my bag." She orders her little sister.

"Got it." May says as she follows her sister down the bleachers.

"Not going to try and stop them?" Marie asks Nazz as she sat back down.

"Naa, I'm sure Lee won't hurt her too bad." Nazz says shrugging.

After the tryouts had ended Ed, Edd and Marie followed Nazz down the bleachers to Kevin and the others.

"Great job out there Kev." Nazz says as she hugs him.

"Thanks Nazz." He says returning the hug.

"You did well out there as well Eddy." Edd says giving his friend some parse.

"No thanks to Lee, she could have cost me my spot on the team." Eddy says sounding very annoyed.

"Aww poor Eddy, come on let's all go get some ice cream." Nazz says thinking that he needs some cheering up.

"This son of a shepherd could use the frozen treat of the flavored milk." Rolf says agreeing to her suggestion in his strange way.

"Sounds fun to me." Jonny says enthusiastically.

"I guess this is where I go home." Marie says thinking that Edd's friends wouldn't want her to come.

"Why? Do you have homework you need to do?" Edd asks her.

"No, well I do have some but I'm not going to do it today. But I mean I assumed you all wouldn't want me around, being an "Evil Kanker Sister"." Marie says quoting the name her and her sisters have been given by the other kids in the school.

Nazz knew all too well the history Marie and her sisters have of being mean to everyone they come in contact with, but times are changing and she also knew that if she didn't go Edd would be sad.

"So things change, Remember." Nazz says that last part under her breath only loud enough for Marie and Edd to head.

Marie got that she was hinting at their conversation from earlier in the day. "Oh, well Cool. Double Dee, care to buy me some ice cream?" She asks her boyfriend.

"Sure I'd love too." He tells her.

The group of teens had gone to the ice cream shop a few blocks away. Unfortunately not all seven kids could fit inside of Kevin's car so Edd had suggested that seeing how Eddy, Rolf and Johnny could use a quick rest, that they ride in the back of the car and Marie Ed and him walk.

It didn't take long for the three of them to meet up with the others at the ice cream shop.

"Hey guys." Nazz says as Ed, Edd and Marie enter the shop.

"Hello Nazz." Edd says returning her greeting.

As they placed their orders Marie noticed that the other kids were still not talking to her directly, but they were not actively avoiding her either.

'Nazz must have said something to them.' She thinks as Edd hands her her cup of chocolate ice cream with sprinkles. "Thanks Muffin." She says giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"You're welcome Cupcake." He says pulling the spoon out of his cup of vanilla with chocolate syrup.

Nazz had talked to the boys in the car on the drive to the ice cream shop. She had told them that they should give Marie a chance, that Edd really likes her and it's their job as his friends to be nice to his girlfriend. The boys agreed to her request to be nice to her, even Eddy said he would let his friend be.

Once all the teens had gotten their ice cream they had moved outside of the shop to hang out and eat their frozen treat.

"So you guys going to the dance next week?" Nazz asks everyone.

"You know I'll be there, can't let the ladies have a night without me." Eddy says sounding full of himself.

Eddy has always thought far too highly of himself, especially when it came to girls and them liking him, which is why everyone laughed when he said that.

"I'm sure they would all notice if you were missing Eddy." Kevin says making a joke at his expense that was lost to Eddy.

"If I don't have to baby sit I'll probably go." Jonny says as he finishes off cone of ice cream.

"I fail to see the enjoyment of these school planned rituals of courtship, but Rolf dose enjoy the ample supply of fruit flavored drink that you call punch. So Rolf will be attending as well."

Nazz was happy to hear that all of her closest friends were attending the dance. She sometimes wished she had a girl to talk about more girly thing with but she still loves all of her guy friends none the less. It was lost on her that Marie was a girl she's already starting to become friends with, but it's highly unlikely that Marie would ever talk about girly things with her.

The group of kids eventually start their individual trips back home and on their walk to the trailer park Marie detours Edd into the old park by the cul-de-sack.

"Let's go for a swing Double Dee." Marie says pulling him over to the swing set.

Marie didn't want the evening to come to an end, and neither did Edd. "Alright." Is all he says as he is pulled along by his girlfriend.

They set their bags down on the ground and sit down on the old swings, Edd on the left and Marie on the right.

"I haven't been on a swing in a long time." Marie says pushing off the ground with her feet.

"Gosh I think the last time I was on one was when you and your sisters used them to tide Ed, Eddy and me up with the chain." He says thinking back on his past and chuckling as he remembered the event.

"I remember that, Ed was somehow able to break the chains off of the bar and ran away with you and Eddy still attached to him. Sorry about that by the way." She says remembering how cruel she was to her now boyfriend back then.

"It's quite alright, the past is the past. We can't change that, only learn from it." He says as he pushes himself off and starts to swing.

After swinging for a while Marie turns to sit sideways in the swing to face Edd. "So has this been the best week of your life or what? Cause I know it's been mine." She says as she takes ahold of the chain in front of her with both hands.

"It has been mine too Marie. When I look back on it I still can't believe it, it feels like it was all a dream but here we are the most unlikely of couples together and happy. And I wouldn't trade it for the world." He says turning to sit like her and giving her a warm smile.

His words combined with his smile melted her insides. "You know just what to say to make a girl feel special Double Dee." She says resting the side of her head against the chain in her hands.

"You are special Marie. I only wish I could have found out how special you are years ago." He says making her blush a little.

"I don't think I was grown up enough for you until now Double Dee."

"Admitting that you're growing up?" Edd asks joking.

"Only a little for now, I want to stay young fun and beautiful for a long time." She says joking back.

"I have a feeling you're going to stay beautiful for a long time Marie." He says complementing her again.

"Ok you win." She says getting off of the swing.

"Win? Win what?" He asks confused by what she said.

"This." She says taking his head in her hands and kisses him as she climbs over his legs to sit on his lap. Telling her that she is beautiful made her heart want to explode. No one's ever told her that they thought she was beautiful and Edd being the first made it that much more special.

Edd wasn't sure what he did to get her to start kissing him, but he didn't care. He was in cloud city as his girlfriend sat on his lap and kissed him. The swings were never intended to hold two people, especially sitting sideways like Marie and Edd are. So they had little to no room between them as they sat holding each other and kissing.

After a good amount of time had passed Marie breaks their kiss and yawns. "Oh, sorry." She says covering her mouth as a second yawn hits her.

"It is getting kind of late." Edd says as she puts her arm back around him. "Maybe we should call it a night?"

"We keep ending up in this situation." Marie says leaning against the chain behind her.

"What situation?" He asks.

"It getting late and me not wanting to let you leave." She says smiling.

"Oh, well we do have most of tomorrow to spend together."

"Have to work tomorrow?"

"Yes, tomorrow afternoon."

"Then I can have you all to myself for the day?" Marie had been missing spending all the time together with Edd like she had over the weekend.

"All yours." He says smiling.

"What time?" She asks already looking forward to seeing him.

"It's a secret." He says knowing that he sparked her curiosity.

"Oh really?" She says getting excited by his impending surprise. "Planning something?"

"Maybe, you'll just have to wait and see."

"I'm being a bad influence on you again, aren't I?" She asks as she pulls him into another kiss.

"Only a little." He says after they break the kiss and Marie starts to laugh followed by Edd joining her in laughing.

**AN: I didn't' think I would ever have to address this topic, but I have no intention to have anything "adult" in this story past some heavy kissing. If you want to read about 15-16 year olds "getting busy" you will not find that here. I'm also starting to realize how big of a project this is becoming and this is only the halfway mark, but I will get this done for you the readers cause no one likes an unfinished fanfic.**


	9. Chapter 9: Saturday

Edd's alarm goes off at seven, it may be the weekend but Edd isn't one to sleep in. Sitting up and turning the alarm off he yawns and stretches. He had a few hours to kill before he planned on meeting up with Marie, so after a shower and breakfast Edd went back up to his room to occupy himself with reading until he needed to prepare for his day with Marie.

Edd's mother was huming as she walked down the hall with a basket full of clean laundry. Her career had picked up over the past few years and had cut out a lot of the time she once devoted to her motherly chores she'd do around the house. So having a few to do on the weekend would remind her of the time when Edd was much younger and she had more time to spend with her only child.

"Eddward." She says knocking on his room door.

"Yes mother?" He asks through the door.

She opens the door a few inches. "Are you decent?" She asks knowing Edd is a growing young man and it isn't the best of ideas to enter his room unannounced.

"Yes mother." He says answering her question.

She opens the door fully and steps into her son's room to find Edd sitting on his bed in an orange shirt and jeans reading one of his books. She was really happy to see her son not hiding his hair under the old ski hat anymore. She wasn't sure what caused him changed his option on his hair, but she was thankful for it nonetheless.

"Good morning Mother." He says as she enters his room.

"Morning Eddward, I have your laundry." She says holding out the basket to him.

"Oh, thank you Mother." He says closing his book and getting off his bed to take the basket from her.

As Edd takes the basket and sets it on his desk chair to start putting it away his mother spots a new addition to his wall.

"Eddward, what is this?" She asks looking at the framed drawing of her son hanging on his wall.

"Oh, my girlfriend Marie drew that for me." He says blushing slightly.

"It looks amazing son, she is a good artist." She says noticing where Marie had written "For my favorite source of inspiration, XOXO Marie" on the edge of the drawing and remembered that he had told her and his father about having a girlfriend earlier in the week. 'My little boy is growing up so fast.' She thinks admiring his girlfriend's work.

She turns to walk out of the room. "Have a good day sweaty." She says walking out the door.

"Thank you, you too Mother." Edd says as his mother closes his room door.

She was happy that her son's social life was growing. Her and her husband push Edd sometimes when it comes to his school work, but they know how smart of a boy he is and they only want him to succeed. But having a girlfriend showed her that they were not pushing him too hard that he didn't have time for his friends and now girlfriend.

'This Marie must be a nice and respectable young girl, we must have her over for dinner one of these days.' She thinks walking down the hall.

Marie was sitting on the couch in the living room of the trailer watching TV, but not really paying attention to what is on. She had wanted to go over and find Edd right when she woke up, but she didn't want to ruin the surprise he claimed to have for her so she had sat down to watch TV to try and kill time. Unsure of what Edd had in mind for them she chose to dress in a t-shirt and jeans, in case they went somewhere that her legs could get scratched.

"Not going to see your boyfriend?" Lee asks sitting down on the couch next to her.

"What do you care?" Marie asks snapping at Lee.

Lee was about to snap back when there is a knock at the front door.

"I got it." Marie says jumping up from the couch to get the door leaving Lee in the living room mad at her.

When she opens the door she finds Edd standing at her door holding a basket in one hand and a brown blanket in the other.

"Hello Marie." Edd says smiling when he sees his girlfriend.

She jumps the few stairs and hugs him. "Hey handsome." She says giving him a quick kiss. "So what's in the basket?" She asks letting go of him and getting excited.

"Well I was thinking we could have a picnic lunch." He says gesturing to the basket with his head.

"That sounds very romantic Double Dee, I would love to go." She says getting more excited about his plans.

"I was hoping you would." He says as she closes the door.

Edd had chosen to take Marie to the woods next to the park, there is a clearing just a few feet in that is far enough into to give them some privacy, but not so far that they could get lost.

Edd sets the basket down and starts to lay out the blanket.

"So what did you bring for us?" Marie asks when Edd had finished with the blanket.

Edd sits down on the blanket and starts to pull out items from the basket and name them off. "I made us turkey sandwiches, some apple slices, a few cans of soda, a bag of chips and these." He says holding out a Tupperware container to her.

Curious she sits down and takes the Tupperware container and opens it. "You know how to spoil a girl." She says looking up from the container full of tater tots.

"I thought you would like some. I didn't bring anything to dip them in, I hope that's ok?" Edd asks placing the basket off to the side.

"Its fine, I like them plain. Thank you Muffin." She says giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"You're welcome Cupcake." He says smiling as he unwrapped a sandwich and then places it a paper plate before setting it down in front of her then opening his own.

"So my mother likes your drawing." Edd says as he takes a bite from his sandwich.

"Oh? Well I'm glad she liked it." Marie says tossing a tater tot into her mouth.

As they ate and talked Eddy and Kevin were walking into the park in their old gym clothes with baseball mitts and bats in hand.

"I don't get why you want to practice Eddy, tryouts are over." Kevin says setting his bat against the merry go round.

"If you could call it that, stupid Lee kept throwing me off my game. I know I could have done better if it wasn't for her. I just hope the couch saw she was harassing me and will still give me a spot on the team." Eddy says tossing his bat onto the ground. "I just want to get some extra practices in to keep me at the top of my game."

"Whatever dude, we just have to stop before two, I got a date with Nazz tonight." Kevin says putting on his mitt.

"You guys and your girls, it was bad enough when you started dating Nazz. Now I have to deal with Sock Head spending all his time with Marie, how is he supposed to help me with my homework when he's with her?" Eddy says tossing his baseball to Kevin.

"That's kind of a dick thing to say man. Double Dee seems to be happy dating Marie and you being one of his best friend's, you should be happy for him too bro." Kevin says taking a few steps back then throwing the ball back to Eddy.

Eddy knew he was right, but he was too stubborn to agree. "Come on man, are we going to stand around and talk, or are we going to practice?" He says trying to change the subject.

Kevin knew he was right and he guess Eddy knew it too. "Alright man, let's get to work."

The boys practiced their baseball skills for a few hours and as two o'clock drew near Kevin was pitching the ball to Eddy so he could hit it back but Eddy was starting to get into it a bit too much.

"Alright Eddy, this one is going to be a fast one." Kevin says as he winds up a throw.

"Got it." Eddy says readying his bat.

Kevin throws the ball and Eddy takes his swing when it gets close, but Eddy had put too much power behind his swing. He realizes this as he watches the ball fly off into the woods by the park.

"Shit." Eddy says watching the ball.

"Shit indeed man, look I'm going to take off. Good luck on finding your ball." Kevin says as he picks up his bat.

"Thanks man." Eddy says sarcastically as he picked up his own bat.

"Later man." Kevin says as he walks towards the exit.

"Later." Eddy says back.

As Eddy walks around the woods looking for his ball he hears a girls laugh. The laugh surprised him and giving up on finding his ball temporarily he went to investigate. Following the direction the laugh came from he pushes a low hanging branch out of the way and see a clearing occupied by Edd and Marie sitting on a blanket.

They had moved under a tree and Marie was lying against Edd as he leans against the tree holding her in his arms. His IPhone had gone off while they ate and Marie had taken it and was playing with it. She doesn't own a cell phone of her own, let alone a smartphone, but she had taken a few from various kids her and her sisters had bullied so she knew her way around them. She had downloaded a game and was playing it while Edd watched her. It was some silly game where you had to get a bird to fly through pipes by tapping the screen.

"This is far more fun than it should be." Marie says laughing as the bird dies.

"It is rather funny watching you play, you're doing better than I probably would." Edd says as she starts up another game.

The bird died really early into the game. "Damn." She says when it died. "Hey Double Dee, what is this for?" She asks pointing to a small circle on the front of the phone.

"Oh, that's the front facing camera." He says answering her question.

"A camera on the front? Why would someone want that?" She asks confused as to why someone would need a camera on the front of their phone.

"Most people use it to take pictures of themselves with it."

"A picture of themselves…" She gets an idea, exits the game and starts looking through his app list.

"What are you looking for?" Edd asks as she flips through the list of apps.

"You'll see." She says as she finds the one she was looking for. "Lay back." She says pushing him back against the tree and opening up the camera app. She adjusts herself against him so her head is to the side of his and holds the phone out in front of them. She hits the button she assumed was the one to switch to the front camera, and when the screen goes from the image of the trees to her and Edd she smiles and takes a picture of them.

"You just took a selfy of us." Edd says snickering as she lowered the phone.

"A what?" She asks as she opens his photo album.

"A selfy, it's the slang term for taking a picture of yourself with your phone." He says watching her find the picture she just took.

"That's a stupid name." She says going through the options for the picture.

"It is a bit silly I will agree."

"There we go." She says holding the phone out for him to see what she had done. She had gone and set the picture of them as the background for this phone.

"Now when I'm not with you I'll have something to remind me of how beautiful you are." He says talking the phone from her to get a closer look at the picture.

"I was going more for "you belong to me" kind of reminder, but I like your idea better." She says as he puts his phone away.

"I would never need a reminder that I'm yours Marie." He says pulling her closer to himself.

Marie turns around and faces Edd. "And I am yours Double Dee." She says as she kisses him.

Eddy was dumbfounded by the seen he had just witnessed. Had he not seen it with his own eyes he would never have believed it.

"Son of a, they really do like each other." Eddy says as let go of the branch he's been holding back as he watched his friend and his girlfriend.

'I really was wrong, Double Dee really does like Marie. And here I've been being a bad friend questioning their relationship and thinking Marie was up to no good.' He thinks as he resumes his search for his baseball. As he looks for his ball he thinks of how he could possible make it up to Edd for being a bad friend.

"I guess I should start by just telling him I'm sorry." He says spotting his baseball on the ground. "Man, he is going to love hearing me say I was wrong." He says picking up his ball and making his way out of the woods.

Edd had made sure to set an alarm in his phone for when he needed to leave for work and when three PM hits his phone starts beeping.

"What is that?" Marie asks opening her eyes and lifting her head up from where it was resting against Edd's chest.

That's my phone telling me it's time to leave for work." Edd says pulling out his phone to turn off the alarm.

"Well that's no fun." She says sitting up.

"I know, but we've had fun today though right?" He says sitting up and adjusting his shirt.

Marie knew there was no sense in trying to talk him out of going to work. "Yeah we did."

Edd stands up and holds out his hand to help her up. "If you want, you can walk with me to work."

She didn't need help getting up but Marie loved it when he would play the gentlemen. Taking his hand and standing up she says; "Sure, I'd love too."

After making a quick stop at Edd's house to drop off the basket and for him to grab his work stuff the two teens walk out of the cul-de-sack and down the road towards the mall. Walking down the road they talk about their plans for the next day.

"So do you work tomorrow?" Marie asks when they stop at a crosswalk.

"I have to work a full shift tomorrow actually." Edd says pushing the button to call the light for them to cross.

"Ouch, you work too much Double Dee." She says as they walk across the street.

"Not really, my parents both work really long days, my few hours a week seem easy compared to their workload."

"Still, if you didn't work as much I could see you more after school."

"But by working I can earn money to eventually pay for gas to take you places on my days off and treat you to various foods and things." He says holding up the index finger of his free hand, the other is firmly grasped by Marie as they walk.

"I didn't think of that, ok I'm cool with the whole you working thing, so long as you remember to keep spoiling me Muffin." She says liking the idea of Edd taking her places and treating her to meals.

"I thought that would change your mind." He says smiling knowing his logic was sound.

When Edd and Marie reach the Radio Shack in the mall they stop in front and Edd turns to face Marie.

"Thank you for today Double Dee, I had a lot of fun." Marie says pulling him into a hug.

"I had fun too Marie, thanks for walking to work with me." He says hugging her back.

Marie leans up and kisses him. "You have a good night Muffin, I think I'll go and steal something." Marie says her wicked smile crossing her face when they break the kiss.

"You can't be serious?" Edd asks surprised by how casually she said that.

"Na I'm kidding." Marie had no intention of stealing anything from the mall. She had tried once but got busted quick and her mom had to leave work to retrieve her. And that was something she never wanted to go through again.

With a little laugh Edd says; "Good, I'd hate for you to get caught by Big Jim the security guard."

"If he could catch me." She says smirking.

Edd just laughs at her boldness. "I hate to say it, but I need to get going. By Marie, I'll miss you." He says feeling bummed that he has to leave his girlfriend and go to work.

Marie was bummed as well. "Bye Muffin." She says kissing him goodbye.

When Edd enters the shop he spots his coworker who had warned him about Marie a few days ago. "Hello Josh." Edd says entering the shop,

"Edd was that your girlfriend?" He asks bewildered by what he just saw.

"Yes it is. That is Marie, my girlfriend." Edd says boosting for the first time that he is dating Marie.

"Oh man, sorry for calling her shifty looking the other day." He says feeling bad for insulting Edd's girlfriend.

"It's quite alright, she has that effect on people." Edd says not feeling bad about his coworker unintentional insult to his girlfriend.

"Still, it was kind of a dick move on my part." He says still trying to apologies.

"You didn't know she was my girlfriend at the time, so don't worry about it." Edd says attaching his name badge and walking into the back room to let his boss know he's there. He didn't think it was a big deal that someone miss judge Marie, after all he had done that for years himself.

Back at the cul-de-sack Sarah and Jimmy sat on the couch in the living room of Sarah's house watching a movie about a human girl falling in love with a vampire boy that was several hundred years old. It was Sarah's idea to watch it and Jimmy was starting to get bored of it, but he always does what Sarah wanted to do. Jimmy knew Sarah had been sad for the past couple of days, her feelings over Edd dating Marie had festered and grown to a depressive level and it was starting to show. She hadn't even changed out of the pink shirt and blue shorts she had worn the previous day but despite his best efforts he couldn't cheer her up. Even his new clothes, a royal blue shirt with gold stripes and dark blue dress pants, didn't work to break her mood, which any other day would have been a talking point by her for a good hour at least.

"Sarah, do you want some more popcorn?" Jimmy asks holding out the bowl to her.

She pushes the bowl away not answering.

"Do you want something to drink?" He says trying to get a response from her.

Again, she doesn't answer him. Jimmy wasn't stupid, he knows his best friend and he knew that she's been acting this way because of Edd and her old crush resurfacing.

"Sarah, don't be sad about Edd dating Marie. You should be happy for our friend finding love." He says trying to snap her out of her trance. The mention of Marie's name did snap her back to the present, but not how he had hoped.

"Errr that stupid Marie. He's meant to be mine." She says starting to get angry.

"He's not yours to claim Sarah, who he dates is his choice and he's kind of too old for you." He says starting to get annoyed with her.

"No he's not!" She snaps at him. "Double Dee are meant to be!" She yells.

Her yelling was it for Jimmy, he was done trying to be nice and was done hiding. "Damn it Sarah, just damn it all! Stop trying to reach for the impossible and look at what is in front of you." He says grabbing her by her arms.

"What are you talking about?" She says shocked by his sudden show of force.

"Me Sarah!" He says giving her a small shake.

"What?" She says still confused by what he is talking about.

"Oh for fashions sake, I love you Sarah." He says finally confessing to her how he feels.

"I, I love you too Jimmy. You're like the gay brother I wish I had." She says not fully understanding what is going on.

Shocked by what she had just said he takes his hands off her. "I'm not gay Sarah, what would make you think that?

"Well you do all those girly things and you are obsessed with fashion more than me." She says still not getting it.

"I do all those things because I'm with you Sarah, I love you Sarah and have for years. But if you can't realize that you and Edd will never be a thing, then maybe you are still just a kid lost in her own fantasy." He says getting up from the couch.

"Jimmy where are you going?" She asks getting up herself.

"Home, I'll see you at school on Monday. That is if you're done acting as pathetic as the girl in the movie." He says pointing at the TV then walking out of the room and opening the front door.

"Jimmy wait." She says trying to stop him. But it didn't work, Jimmy closed the door behind him and marched home angry at his best friend.

"What just happened? Jimmy is in love with me? I..., how the hell am I supposed to react to that?" She says dropping to the floor resting her back against the couch.

In the basement Ed is laying on his bed reading his book on movie special effects, enjoying reading about how explosions were made for movies.

"Bout damn time." He says to himself. He had overheard the conversation that had gone on above him and was glad that Jimmy finally confessed to his sister.

A few minutes later Ed hears Sarah's room door open then slam shut. "I should go make sure she didn't leave the TV on." He says sitting up and setting his book down.

Upstairs her room light was off and she had let the TV on. He stops the movie and puts the DVD away, turns off the TV and cleans up the mess they left behind. After he put the dirty dishes in the sink he walks back to his room, he wanted to say something to his sister but he had no idea what to say. He couldn't think of any comic book or movie quotes that could work in this situation. Telling Eddy about the complexity of love or why Ed, Eddy and him are friends is one thing, but helping his sister deal with the bomb that was just dropped on her was a whole different situation And he couldn't recall anything from movies he's watched or the comics he's read that could help. So he keeps walking and returns to his room.

In her room Sarah lays on her bed with the lights off trying to get a grip on what Jimmy had told her.

"Damn it Jimmy, why did you have to wait so long to tell me." She says staring up at her ceiling. She's never thought of him as anything more than just her best friend. Now she doesn't know what to think about him. She knew would be wrong to lie and tell him she's in love with him too, but she also knew she couldn't pretend what happened didn't happen.

"Damn it Jimmy." She says pulling her pillow over her face. "This is going to be the most awkward conversation in the history of our friendship."

**AN: Huzzah for character development! We got Eddy starting to grow as a friend, Jimmy finally confessing to Sarah and where Ed would get his wise words from. I'm not going to stay up late to edit anymore so I hope I caught more errors this time around.**


	10. Chapter 10: Sunday

*Knock knock* "Sarah, breakfast is ready." Sarah and Ed's mother says knocking on her daughter's bedroom door.

Sarah ended up falling asleep while thinking over her situation with Jimmy and she rolled off her bed when her mother woke her up.

"Ok mom." She says shaking her head and yawning.

She knew if she walked out of her room in the clothes she wore the past two days it would only spark questions from her parents. So after she quickly changes into her pink pajamas and tossing her dirty clothes onto the pile in her closet she walks out of her room.

"Good morning Sarah." Ed says greeting her as she walked into the kitchen.

Sunday morning breakfast was a family transition, they would stay in their pajamas and all four members of the family would sit down and spend time with each other and talk about what's been going in their lives. But this time Sarah didn't want to talk about her week. How could she tell her parents, let alone her brother, that she's been sad over Edd dating Marie and that her best friend had confessed that he was in love with her?

So when her father turned to her and asked; "So how's little Princess been?"

She just told him; "Good Daddy." But she, and secretly Ed knew otherwise.

But she needed to talk to someone about it, she needed an option on what to do. And being a preteen girl she didn't think her parents would understand her, that left her brother as the only person she thought she could talk to.

So after an hour and half of dad jokes and Ed and her mother laughing at all of then she follows her brother out of the kitchen and stops him at the door to the basement.

"Ed ca- can I talk to you for a minute?" She asks grabbing the sleeve of his green pajama shirt to stop him.

The tone of her voice caught Ed off guard. "Um yeah, what's up?" He says turning to face her.

"What do you, um think of Jimmy?" She asks a little afraid of what he might say.

Unfortunately for her Ed had no comic book or movie quote to help her, so he just says; "Oh, well he is a nice guy."

Sarah knew of her brother's secret enjoyment of using quotes from movies or comics in situations and expected something more from him. "I- I don't know what to do Ed, last night HE confessed to me that he loves me." She says telling him more than she originally planned as she leans up against the wall.

Ed tried to act surprised by this information. "Wow... what did you tell him?" He asks knowing full well that she didn't give him a proper response.

"I didn't tell him anything, hell I didn't even think he like girls let alone ME. He just confessed and then left." She says putting her head in her hands.

Still having no good idea what to say. "Well, um... do you like him?" Ed asks getting nervous from not knowing how to handle the situation.

"I don't know. I love him like a brother, but more than that? I don't know."

He decided to try and give her advice, pulling all his brain power he pats her on the shoulder and says; "There there little sister of mine, love finds its way into our lives in the most mysterious ways. Sometimes it could be right in front of us without us knowing, others could take just the right random happenstance to ignite it."

Sarah was amazed by what he just said, it was like nothing he's ever told her before. It felt like something he actually said, rather than a quote he used. But it didn't quite help her with her situation.

"Thanks Ed, but it doesn't help much." She says taking her head out of her hands.

"I'm sorry Sarah. Umm… all I can think of is to just talk to him and be honest with him." He says scratching the back of his head.

"You're right Ed, thanks for talking to me." She says then turns to walk to her room. She already knew she needed to talk to Jimmy, but she wasn't going to tell Ed that.

'He's a big idiot of a brother, but he always try's when I need help.' She thinks. 'I should be nicer to him, he is my only brother.'

After changing out of his pajamas into a blue striped shirt and jeans Ed grabs his jacket off of the back of his armchair and makes his way out of the house.

"Bye mom bye dad, I'm going out for the day." He says to his mother and father who are sitting on the couch together.

"Have a good day son." His father says.

"Be home for dinner Ed." His mother says looking over to him.

Ed walks down the street to the corner comic book shop. He frequently visits this comic shop and it is almost a second home to him.

"Hello Mark." He says greeting the guy in a Flash t-shirt behind the counter.

"Hi Ed." He says not looking at Ed.

Mark is normally a very friendly person so Ed thought it was a bit odd that his greeting was short worded.

"Something up?" Ed asks him.

"It this girl in the shop. She's been standing in front of the Dark Horse section just staring at them for like ten minutes now." Mark says still looking down the row of shelves.

"That is strange." Ed says looking into the shop.

"I know. I'm wondering if she's planning on stealing so I'm keeping an eye on her, just in case." He says crossing his arms.

The idea of someone stealing comics bewildered Ed, comic books are not that expensive so stealing them just seemed kind of pointless to him. But Ed didn't think much on it after that, there is only one door to the building and Mark is right next to it so if this person was going to steal they would have to get past him.

It was a few days till new comics would come out but Ed still enjoyed browsing the shop and seeing what compilation books are available and maybe find a new series or two to start.

When he turns the corner at the end of one shelve he freezes. Ed had unintentionally walked to the Dark Horse section and there stood May Kanker looking very confused as she stares at the shelf. Terrified from seeing her Ed starts to back away from her as carefully as he could, but he's never been a graceful person and his heel catches the corner of the shelf and he stumbles backwards and hits the metal shelves behind him.

The noise catches May's attention and she turns to see what the cause of the noise was and smiles when she sees Ed.

'Crud.' Ed thinks as she starts to walk over to him. He knew it was hopeless to try and pretend he didn't see her, he just hoped this interaction with her would be a short one. Seeing her at school and occasionally around the cul-de-sack was one thing, but the comic shop was a place he thought he was safe from her.

"Hi Ed, what are you doing here?" May asks as Ed straightens himself.

"Um, this is the comic shop I always go to." He says getting nervous.

"Oh yeah, ha ha. Silly question them, oh maybe you could help me." She says grabbing his jacket and pulling him back to where she was looking at the shelf of comics.

"I was looking for Batman comics, but I don't see any here." She says pointing to the shelf.

Again his love for comics over rode his shrinking fear of May. "That's cause Batman isn't Dark Horse."

"It isn't?" she asks looking up at him with a look of surprise on her face.

"No, it's a DC comic." He says pointing to the far wall where the shop keeps the DC comics.

"Oh, show me Ed." She says grabbing his sleeve again and pulling him over to where he was pointing.

When they reach the DC section May quickly spots two separate books with a black caped and pointed hooded man on the front. But one of them also had a man in a blue suit with a red cape.

"Wait, are both of these batman ones?" May asks looking from the comics to Ed.

"Yes and no." He says forgetting that it was May he is talking to. "This one is a crossover story of Batman and Superman, while this one is just Batman alone."

"Batman and Superman? Wow that sounds amazing." May says getting excited over the comic.

"This one is a really good series, but I wouldn't recommend starting on this one though." He says pointing to the Batman Superman crossover book.

"Aww why?" she says frowning.

"Cause it's the sixth book in the series." He says a smile crossing his face.

"Oh." May says and starts laughing.

Ed started to laugh with her and he ended up helping May pick out a few books that he recommended for her to start on. They even ended up walking back to the cul-de-sack together talking about comics.

Ed was telling her about how comics and movies have great quotes in them. "I love finding all these cool lines in them that I can use."

"You have any you could tell me?" She asks hiding her excitement from spending the past half hour with Ed and talking to him like two normal teens would.

"Humm." Ed says as he thinks up a good quote for her. Snapping his fingers his says; "I got one! It's one of my favorite lines ever."

"Tell me tell me!" May says her excitement starting to show.

With a quick little cough to clear his throat he says; "The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you the dawn is coming."

"Wow Ed, that was… deep." She says amazed by the quote.

"Thanks." He says feeling proud of himself that his quote had that big of an effect on her.

"Where is it from? If you don't mind me asking."

"It's something Harvey Dent said before he became Two-Face."

"Who's that?" May asks.

As Ed explains who Harvey Dent is he started to think that May isn't as bad as he thought she once was, and when she agreed with him that Superman seems too powerful he smiles and thinks she's becoming a comic fan like him.

Opening him bedroom door Edd lets out a sigh of defeat and as he stepped into his room he tosses his messenger bag next to his desk. After his long day of work he was happy to finally be home. He pulls his black tie off of his white dress shirt as he gives his door a push to close it. He walks over to his bed and falls face down onto his pillow letting out another sigh.

He was just about to close his eyes and rest for a while when he hears a knock on his window.

"What the?" He says lifting his head off the pillow and looking at the window. "Marie?" He says when he sees her kneeling on the roof outside his window.

She smiles when she sees him look at her and waves at him to come over to her.

Edd gets up off his bed and walks over to the window. "What are you doing here Marie? And how did you get up here?" He asks as he opens his window to let her in.

"I came to see you silly." She says taking ahold of his hand to help her into his room. "And I climbed up the drain pipe, it's really not that hard to do."

"Why didn't you use the front door?" He asks her as he closed his window.

"Cause it was more fun to surprise you." She says looking around his room.

This was the first time Marie has ever been in Edd room so she looks around taking in everything there is in his room. To the right of the window was Edd's twin size bed with a nightstand next to it that had an alarm clock and a lamp on it. Against the same wall as the nightstand was a book shelf overflowing with books. On the far wall was a dresser with Edd's ant farm and fake human skull and next to that was his closet where his clothes are hung in an organized manner. In the corner was a few shelves hanging off the wall that held momentous from his past, a few Marie recognized like the Hypnotizing disk and his award he got last year for finishing freshmen year with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Against the windowed wall opposite of his bed sat his desk. It was an L shaped one that held his computer on one side and a mess of different projects Edd was halfway through working on. And hanging on the wall above his desk next to a framed periodic table was the picture she had given him. Seeing the picture on his wall made her smile and happy that he liked it enough to hang it on his wall.

As Marie looked around his room Edd took in the sight of his girlfriend, she had a black zip up hoodie on and a pair of tight black jeans. As he looked at her he felt his heart swell with emotion and smiled as he let the feeling wash over him. Edd didn't know it now and wouldn't know or even tell her till several months down the road, but he is already starting to fall in love with Marie Kanker.

"I like your room Double Dee." Marie says snapping him out of his day dream as she turned to face him.

"Thank you Marie, it's not much but it is my own little safe place."

She sits down on his bed. "It is the only place I could never get to you, not that I would need to worry about you hiding from me anymore." She says her wicked smile appearing on her face.

"I always thought it was a bit odd that you never came up here in the past." He says sitting down next to her.

"Couldn't tell ya why I never thought to come and see you up here till now, but I'm betting you're happy to see me now." She says leaning over to him and running her index finger up and down his chest.

"You know I'm always happy to see you Marie." He says taking her hand and lacing their fingers together.

"Good." Is all Marie says as she pulls him down onto the bed and climbed on top of him.

Edd had expected her to pull something like this so he was not surprised by her actions, but he was a little amazed that she was able to do so while still holding his hand. Smiling she leans down to him and quickly brushes her lips against his before kissing him on the noise.

"Tease." Edd whispers to her.

This surprised Marie. "Tease am I?" She asks leaning up from him and raising her eyebrow.

"Only a little." He says wrapping his left arm around her, his right hand still entwined with Marie's.

"You don't know what real teasing is Muffin." She says leaning down to kiss him. Edd was curious as to what she meant by that but wasn't going to stop kissing her to find out. As they kiss with her free hand Marie pulls his hat off his head and runs her fingers through his hair playing with it.

A good amount of time later Edd and Marie are lying on his bed cuddling. Marie had stopped kissing him when she felt him get too excited, she thought it was funny when it happened last Saturday but she doesn't want their relationship to move too fast. She's just not ready for anything more than kissing, she is only fifteen after all. Marie is resting her head on the left side of Edd's chest while he held her in his arms. Listening to the sound of his heart beat while drawing shapes on his chest a question comes to her that she's never thought of before.

"Hey Double Dee, what did I do to get you to fall for me?" She asks looking up to him.

"Gosh, that's a tuff one. I'm not sure where to begin." He says looking up at the ceiling.

"Well start with what about me you like."

"Besides you being the most beautiful girl I've ever met?" He asks smiling and looking down at her.

Laughing she says; "Yes other than that silly."

"Ok well there is your love of art, your soft caring side that you hide from the world and I guess I've also come to enjoy your aggressive side too. I think its cute that you're not very fond of the dark, not to mention your smile is something I could get lost in. Just to name a few things." He says naming off the first few things he could think of.

"Good to know I can bewitch you with just a smile." She says tickling his chin with her finger.

Edd lets out a little laugh. "Just don't use this knowledge for evil."

"I won't, so have you figured out what I did right?" She asks still wondering what she did to get him to fall for her.

"Well I guess it started with you showing that you really do care for me and that I wasn't just a plaything for you. And when you got me to play around with you was the first time I ever saw you laugh and smile that didn't have any ill intent behind it, again I could get lost in the smile. And when you kissed me it felt like I was kissing a whole different person that I thought you were. I don't really know how to explain it, but I finally saw the real you and I am extremely happy that I got locked inside the school with you and that I didn't let you break us out." Edd says trying to find an explanation for why he cares for her.

"You did just fine Double Dee, I'm really happy we got locked inside the school too." She says rolling over onto her stomach to look him in the eye as her heart swell with her own growing affection for him. She was about to crawl up and give him a kiss, but she froze when they hear someone knock on his door.

"Eddward, are you still up?" She hears a woman's voice through the door.

Edd see her mouth the word: "That your mom?" and he shakes his head.

*Knock knock* "Eddward?" his mother asks again.

He looks down to Marie and puts a finger over his lips "Shhh" he says letting her know to stay quiet. "Yes Mother I am still awake." He says looking over to the door.

"There is some dinner left if you'd like to come have some."

"Ok, thank you Mother I will be down in a minute."

Neither Marie nor Edd moved for a few minutes to give his mother plenty of time to walk away from his door.

"I guess it's time for me to make my escape." Marie says getting up from the bed and walking over to the window.

"I completely forgot that Mother and Father would still be awake." Edd says sitting up and looking over to Marie by the window.

"It's fine, I'll see you tomorrow Muffin." She says lifting up his window.

Feeling a little bold Edd gets up from the bed and walks over and turns Marie around and pulls her into a kiss.

This surprised Marie, and she like it. Wrapping her arms around his neck she return the kiss.

"I'll miss you too Double Dee." She says when they break the kiss.

"I'm not sure where that came from." He says letting her go.

"I'm not complaining, you go enjoy your dinner and I'll climb out your window." She says turning to climb out the window.

Once she is out on the roof she turns and leans on the window sill. "Bye bye Double Dee."

"Bye Cupcake, be safe on your walk home." Edd says leaning down to her.

"I will, remember us bad girls are creatures of the night." She says grinning.

"Who is scared of the dark." He says getting down on his knees to be on level with her.

"That's what street lights and flashlights are for." She sticks her head back through the window and gives him a quick kiss. "Later gator." She says then starts to climb down the roof to the drain pipe.

Edd watches her climb down the roof with a skill that shows she's done stuff like this before in the past. Just as her head was about to disappear behind the roof she looks up at the window and sees Edd watching her and gives him a quick wink then finished her climb down.

When Marie got home she made sure to keep quite because her mother was supposed to be sleeping. So quietly opening the front door she made her way into the house and she made sure not to let the door slam shut. Tip toeing into the living room she spots her sisters, Lee is sitting on the couch watching the TV with the volume down to a pint they she could barely hear it and May was sitting on the floor with her back against the side of the couch.

"Yo." Marie says greeting her sisters as she sat down on the couch.

"Where did you sneak off to?" Lee asks her.

"You really have to ask?" Marie says looking at her sister.

"She went to Double Dee's Lee." May says turning around.

"I should have known you'd be with your man." Lee says.

"Yes you should have Lee, Any chance I can get to spend time with my dream boat I will take it." Marie says smiling.

"You are a lovesick fool." Lee says giving off a little laugh.

"I'm the fool? Wasn't it you May that went looking for Ed at that comic shop?" Marie says poking May with her foot.

"Shut up." May says turning a little red.

Marie lets out a laugh. "That's a yes, so did you run into him?" She asks still poking her.

"I did." May says smiling at Marie.

"And?" Marie says sliding off the couch to sit next to May.

"And he explained a bunch of stuff about comics and he even gave me some suggestions on books to buy." May says her smile growing.

"Good for you May, I told you could do it." Marie says giving her sister a playful punch in the arm.

"That's not the best part, after we left the comic shop he walked with me all the way to the lane and we talked the whole way." May says boasting about her time with Ed.

Lee watched her sisters talk about May's interaction with Ed and a smile crosses her face as she thinks; 'May is just as dopey as Ed himself.'

"I'm going to bed, you two don't stay up too late gushing over your men." Lee says getting up from the couch. 'We are going to have to have a talk, the three of us.' She thinks as she started her climb up the stairs.


	11. Chapter 11: Monday

Even though she went to bed before her sisters, Lee was still the last of the three of them to wake up. By the time she had finished her morning shower Marie was already fully dressed in a red sleeveless shirt with her black skirt and was working on applying her black eye liner in the mirror that hung on the closet door.

"Where is May?" Lee asks as she pulled on the blue jeans she wore the day before.

"Down in the kitchen making some toaster waffles." Marie says not looking away from the mirror.

"Go get her would you?" Lee asks as she pulls on a green t-shirt.

"Why?" Marie asks looking away from the mirror.

"Cause I told you too." Lee says snapping at her.

Not wanting to get into an argument with her sister this early in the morning Marie says; "Fine fine, I'll go get her." And walks out of the room.

When she was out of the room Lee sits down on the bed to put on her sock. 'This is going to be an interesting day.' She thinks as hears her sisters walking up the stairs.

"Ok I got her." Marie says as her and May walked into the room.

"Sit down girls we need to talk." Lee says pointing to the bed.

"What's up?" May asks as she sat down on the bed.

"Who are we girls?" Lee asks.

"The Kanker Sisters duh." Marie says answering her sister.

"And what is our motto?" Lee asks.

"You live by the sword, die by the sword." Marie says smiling and letting out a little giggle.

"I'm being serious Marie."

"Sorry Lee." Marie says letting out a small laugh.

"We stick together and have each other's backs, no matter what." May says reciting the Kanker's motto.

"Right and I've come to realize that I haven't been keeping up with it." She says looking from May to Marie. "When you told us about you and Double Dee I didn't want to believe it, I thought you were going soft on me. And I guess I didn't want to believe that Mom was wrong, she's done so much for us and works so hard to support us. But I was wrong, it wasn't you just being nice that landed you Double Dee. And maybe I was a little jealous of you Marie, and you too May. You guys are getting the Ed's to like you and I should have been happy for you from the start. I'm sorry girls for not sticking with you." Lee says opening up to her sisters about how she's felt and what she's thought about everything that has been going on over the past week. But she couldn't let the conversation stay at this level of seriousness. "If you two want to be a couple of softy saps then don't come crying to me when your tough girl status is being questioned." Lee says smiling.

"We're being softy saps? Who's the one that just went and spilled her guts to us?" Marie asks playfully punching Lee in the arm.

"Yes you are, Mrs. I spent a whole weekend alone being all lovey dovey with a certain brainy boy." Lee says punching her back.

Laughing Marie says; "It's not my fault your plan backfired and I had to improvise. And I quite enjoyed my time alone with Double Dee."

"Yeah and now you've gone and influenced our little sister into being nice to Ed." Lee says smiling at punching Marie back.

"It's working though, Ed and I are talking like normal people." May say finally chiming into the conversation.

"See Lee, all it takes is just a pinch of being nice to get our boys to like us." Marie says grinning as the three sisters started laugh together. Nothing could ever truly drive these sisters apart, not even romantic interests.

"Sarah, you're going to be late." Sarah and Ed's mother yells up the stairs. Sarah has been dreading this day all weekend so she's been taking her time getting ready for school.

"Sarah!" Her mother yells as she pulls one of her many pink shirts over her head.

"I'm going as fast as I can mom." Sarah yells back lying about her speed as she pulls on a pink shirt on. She's still not sure how she feels about Jimmy's confession but she's going to do what Ed told her and tell him the truth. She knew her mother couldn't wait for her all day, so with a deep sigh she grabs her Hello Kitty backpack off the floor and leaves her room.

Sarah was quiet the whole ride to her school which her mother took notice of. "Everything ok Sarah?" She asks looking down at her daughter in the passenger seat next to her.

"Yes mom, everything is fine." Sarah says looking out the window.

"Well if there ever is something wrong, you know you can talk to me about anything." She says knowing that her daughter wasn't being truthful with her.

"Ok mom." Sarah says still looking out the window and not fully hearing her mom

At school Sarah finds Jimmy sitting at one of the tables in the lunch room. He was in a plane black T-shirt and jeans. She thought he was trying to look like a bad kid, but she knew Jimmy and while he does have a mean bone or two, he could never be a bad kid.

"Hey." She says sitting down across from him

"Hey." He says back to her.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Sarah not sure how to start the conversation and she doesn't want Jimmy wanting on her to say something all day.

"I'm sorry" She says under her breath.

"I didn't catch that Sarah." He says leaning in to try and hear her better.

"I said I'm sorry. I don't know what to tell you Jimmy, other than I'm sorry. I'm sorry for how I acted, for being self-absorbed. You're my best friend in the whole world Jimmy and I don't want to risk damaging that." She says blurting out what she wanted to say.

Jimmy didn't expect her to return his feeling for her. "So that's a no to us then." He says leaning back from her.

"I didn't say no Jimmy, but I didn't say yes either. I just don't know what to do and it's not fair to you leading you on, you need to be free to pursue other girls." She says putting her head in her hands in an attempt to hide from what is going on.

"You're the only girl for me Sarah."

"Damn it Jimmy, you're not making this any easier." She says letting out a little laugh at his comment

"Our friendship never been easy. I'm not going to try and force you into anything, I just couldn't be quiet anymore Sarah."

"I understand Jimmy, so we still friends?" She asks taking her head out of hands.

"Of course we are." He says smiling at her. "So did you watch Top Model last night?" He asks.

"Oh my god yes, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time." She says getting excited.

"I couldn't believe what happened. This season is shaping up to be an amazing one." He says getting excited as well.

"I know right?"

For the rest of the morning Sarah and Jimmy talk about their favorite TV show like they do every Monday morning letting the seriousness of their conversation about each other's feelings for the other be replaced with laughter and joy from talking to their best friend. But Jimmy still wanted her as more than just a friend and wasn't going to give up on her. But for now he was going to give her time to think it all over and hopefully find feelings for him someday.

Edd had forgotten to take his phone out of his bag when he got home from work the previous night, so when he got an email notification while waiting in the lunch line with Marie she heard it and questioned it.

"What was that?" Marie asks after hearing the digital tone.

"I must have forgotten to leave my phone at home, this isn't good." Edd says pulling out his phone.

"I got it was your phone, what I don't get was that ring tone." She says picking up a lunch tray.

"What's wrong with my ring tone? I like my ring tone." He asks as he put his phone into his pocket so he can grab a tray.

"It sounds like something a grandparent would have."

"It's the default notification tone." Edd says trying to defend his ringer.

"That's what I mean, no one but old people keep the default ringer." She says as they walk down the lunch line.

"Not everyone has a custom ringtone." He says still trying to defend his choice of ringtone.

"Yes they do, hey Nazz." She says leaning back to look down the line to the blond girl in a pink dress who were a few students ahead of them.

"Yes?" Nazz asks leaning back to look at Marie.

"You and Kevin both have unique ringtones on ur cell phones right?" Marie asks her.

Raising an eyebrow she looks from Marie to Kevin then back to Marie. "Yeah why?"

"Double doesn't have one and he thinks not everyone has one themselves."

"What really? Double Dee are you fifty or something?" Nazz says looking shocked.

"I know right?" Marie says then looks back to Edd. "See, you're the odd one." She says playfully poking him in the chest before walking out of the lunch line.

"I'm odd? You're the one with a skull spray painted onto your black shirt with green paints and blue hair." He says describing her outfit for the day.

"Hey now this is punk, we are meant to look odd. What does your black tie, blue shirt and black dress pants say about you?" She asks smiling.

"That I am proper and know how to dress like a gentleman." He says smiling.

"That may be true, but you still need a better ring tone." She says sitting down at an empty table.

"What would be a better one to you?" He asks sitting down next to her.

"Hum, let me see your phone and I will find one for you." She says holding an open hand out to him.

Edd was curious as to what she would deem as a good ring tone so he pulls out his phone and sets it in her hand. "Ok, do your best."

Taking his phone and unlocking the screen she smiles at the picture of the two of them she had taken on their picnic over the weekend. 'I love that picture.' She thinks as she opens up his app list.

While she ate her lunch with one hand she fiddles with his phone with the other. Edd had finished his lunch and was just watching Marie with a smile on his face.

"So did you find one?" He asks taking a look at his watch and seeing that the lunch hour is almost over.

"Oh I did that like a half hour ago, I've been playing that bird game this whole time." She says looking away from his phone.

"Why am I not surprised, you're like a little kid who's found a new toy when you get your hands on my phone."

"Hey! Ok that kind of true, but listen to your new ringer." She says closing the game and bringing up the list of ringtones on the phone then playing the one she had chosen for him.

"Is that Beethoven's Fifth Symphony?" He asks recognizing the song that she played off his phone.

"Yep, I thought you would like it." She says handing him his phone back.

"I do like it, thank you Marie." He says taking the phone and turning it off so it wouldn't go off again while he was in class.

"Now people won't think you're an old man when your phone goes off." She says joking with him.

"Hey! No one thinks I'm an old man!" He says joking back at her.

"I'm kidding Muffin, you're too handsome to be an old man." She says leaning over to give him a kiss.

Most of the kids had hoped that the second week of dancing would be called off for some reason, but unfortunately their hopping was for nothing.

"Look kids it's just a few more days." The coach says when over half the class groaned when he told them they would be continuing to learn to dance. "And I hear the student council is throwing a dance at the end of the week. That would be a great way to show off all you've learned."

The kids all muttered agreements to him. "Ok, so partner up and will begin."

The kids all join up with their partners they had the previous week, Edd was of course with Marie and Ed went to join May knowing that his mother would yell at him if he didn't partner up with her.

"Hi Ed, thank you for your help yesterday, those comics were great." May says when Ed came up to her.

Ed was a little nervous to do more dancing but when she mentioned the help he had given her at the comic shop yesterday and that she liked the comics she picked up his nervousness went away.

"I told you they were good, if you'd like I could bring you some of the older Batman books, or even some Batgirl book." Ed says happy that she liked the books he helped her pick out.

"Wait Batgirl? Like a female Batman?" She asks her eyes going wide.

"No, different character, the ones I really like are the series that follow Barbara Gordon."

"I have no idea who that is, but I want to find out everything I can about her and I don't know why." Edd laughs at her excitement and starts to explain how Barbara Gordon is.

While Ed and May were talking and laughing, things are going a lot different for Lee and Eddy. When the teacher had told the kids to partner up both Eddy and Lee started to walk over to the bench.

"Hold it you two." The teacher says to Eddy and Lee. "You two are participating this week, no more sitting on the bench."

"If Shrimpy here puts his hands on I'll pound him." Lee says pointing at Eddy with her thumb.

Shrimpy was the worst name Lee would ever call Eddy, and he hated it. "Like I would ever want to touch you? You are like the most rotten and ugly girl in the school." He says in anger at her calling him Shrimpy.

Eddy's words really hurt Lee, but she wasn't going to show it did. "You are a short little self-absorbed ass and I don't need this." She says pushing him out of her way as she stormed out of the gym.

"Lee where do you think you're going?" The coach asked.

"Away from this place." She says ripping the door open.

"Oh dear. This will not end well, will it?" Edd asks looking down to Marie.

"No, no it will not. Don't expect to see me after school ends today, she is going to be pissed." Marie says looking from the door Lee had just went through up to Edd.

For the rest of the class Eddy would get looks from all of the other kids in the class,. He hadn't been thinking clearly when he had called Lee rotten and ugly and he was expecting to pay for it in one form or another. When the class was finally over Eddy wanted to get away from his classmates as soon as he could. But when he entered the locker room he saw that a list of who made the Baseball team had been posted on the notices board.

"Oh yes!" He says when he sees his name on the list of kids that made the team.

"Eddy, come here." The coach says from the doorway leading into his office.

"Yeah?" Eddy says walking over to him.

"Look, I'm guessing that you were not bringing you're A game last week." The coach says.

"Yeah Lee's yelling at me kept throwing me off."

"Well for one Lee seems to have a thing for you so you need to tell her you're not interested in her that way and you shouldn't call someone rotten or ugly, that's just wrong. And secondly, I'm giving you a chance on the team but you gotta prove to me that you can do better than you did at try outs."

"I will coach." Eddy says happy that he's getting a chance on the team, and letting the coach's advice about Lee go in one ear and out the other.

"Good, now get going before you're late for your next class."

"Thanks Coach." Eddy says as he turns to leave the locker room so happy he wanted to start skipping.

Edd knew that his chances of seeing Marie after school ended was slim to almost none, but he was still a little sad when he didn't see her next to his locker.

"I hope Lee is ok." He says to himself as he unlocks his locker. "That really was a mean thing for Eddy to say to her, I should tell him to be nicer to her. She is my girlfriend's sister after all."

Edd's night at work was going slower than normal, He had already strained all the items on the shelves, washed both sides of the windows and had cleaned off all the countertops. He was about to pull out the vacuum to clean the floors to finish off his cleaning duties when he hears a familiar voice.

"Hello Double the Ed boy."

Looking to the door he spots his friend. "Hello Rolf, what brings you here this evening?" Edd asks.

"I come in need of your services." Rolf says looking around the shop.

"Ok, what can we do for you?" Edd asks.

"Well you see my Nana has stated watching these shows that are operas about soaps and she doesn't like watching them on our current video box, So I have come to you smartest of my friends for help." Rolf says looking back to Edd

"Oh, well we don't sell TV's Rolf."

"Rolf has already acquired one, but when I plugged it in it just showed a strange picture of black and white."

"How old is the TV Rolf?" Edd asks as his tech knowhow starts to go to work.

"I think it is around fifteen years." Rolf says scratching his chin.

"Ah therein lies your problem." Edd says snapping his fingers. "A TV that old isn't compatible with the current signals that are used by the broadcasting stations."

"I do not understand what any of that means." Rolf says looking very confused.

"What you are going to need is what is called a Converter Box." Edd says as he starts to explain what Rolf will need to do.

"I see… I think you will have to write this down, cause I don't think I will remember this all." Rolf says after Edd had explained everything he would need to do.

"No problem Rolf, just let me get a piece of paper from my bag." Edd says walking over to the counter.

Edd pulls his messenger bag out from under the counter and opens it to get a notebook. He opens the notebook to a blank page and starts to write out instructions for Rolf to follow.

"So how goes things with your blue haired lady friend?" Rolf asks leaning against counter with his hand.

Edd didn't expect Rolf to question him about him and Marie. "Oh, we are doing great." He says looking up from the list he is writing.

"You know that Marie is a good match for you Double the Ed Boy. Her wildness goes well with your cube likeness." Rolf says looking out into the mall.

"I think you mean square Rolf." Edd says correcting Rolf on his lack of terminology knowledge.

"Yes that is the phrase." He says pointing at Edd. "Also the simpleton Ed, you'd do well to encourage him to get along with the little Kanker, I see more in store for them too."

"More in store for them? What are you talking about Rolf?" Edd asks a little confused by what Rolf had said.

"Just that those two should be nice to each other, it does good to be nice to girls." Rolf says smiling at Edd.

"Are you going to tell me to also tell Eddy to be nice to Lee?"

"He needs to get his own pig head under control before he should even think of finding a mate." Rolf says crossing his arms.

"I think you are missing something Rolf, we are a tad bit too young to be thinking of finding partners for life." Edd says a little shocked at what Rolf had said.

"Bah, you Americans always wait too long, you need to learn to seize love when it is young and fresh, not wait till it is as old as the goats milk that was left in the barn overnight."

"Ok Rolf here is a list of everything you will need and what you will need to do." Edd says handing him the finished list.

Edd had made sure to make the instructions as simple as he could. "Hum… Yes Rolf can do this, thank you Ed Boy." Rolf says looking over the list.

"If you want to wait a minute I will go and collect the items we have here at the shop."

"That would be good, yes thank you." Rolf says looking up from the list.

Edd quickly walk around the shop picking out the items Rolf would need to set up his TV so his grandmother could watch her soap operas.

"You are all set Rolf." Edd says after ringing him up.

"Thank you Double the Ed Boy, and remember what I told you yes?" Rolf says pocketing the list and picking up the bag full of the supplies Edd had gathered for him.

"Ok well I'll remember that, but I need to get back to work now so I'll see you at school tomorrow." Edd says not wanting to go back to that conversation.

"Yes I should be getting back home myself, Nana will be wanting her nightly foot rub." Rolf says looking at his watch. "Farewell Ed Boy." He says as he turns to walk out of the shop.

"Have a good night Rolf." Edd says waving good bye to his friend.

"This had been a crazy day." Edd says when Rolf was out of the store.


	12. Chapter 12: Tuesday

Eddy had been in a good mood since he found out he had made the baseball team, and that good mood had carried over to the next day. While getting ready for school he had put on one of his old records and was dancing around his room.

"Oh yeah oh yeah, I'm the man." He says nodding his head to the beat of the music as he opened his walk in closet.

His closet was stuffed full of all kinds of clothing, but most of it followed the theme of 70's style clothing.

Eddy not only loved music and clothing from the 70's, but he also idolized the way people acted back then too. Which is why he acts so full of himself all the time, he believes that's how all men acted, and from all the movies and TV shows he's watched from then he has come to the belief that if he acts that way he can get a lot of girls to like him. Needless to say he has yet to get a single date using his "70's suave ways".

Searching through his closet he picks out a rich purple silky button up shirt and a pair of stone washed bellbottoms. Just as he was finishing buttoning up his shirt, but leaving the last three undone to show off his very thin chest hair, he hears a knock at his personal back door. Opening the door he sees his tall friend Ed in his green jacket with a faded blue shirt and jeans. Eddy still thinks Ed's glasses are stupid and silly looking and under normal circumstances he would refrain from making a joke about them after Edd had outwitted him and pointed out that if he can make fun of Ed's glasses, then Ed could make fun of Eddy being short. But Eddy wasn't thinking straight and let that information slip from his mind.

"Hey Four Eyes, what's shakin?" Eddy asks Ed.

Ed was still a little self-conscious about his new glasses even if Eddy has been the only person to say anything negative about them.

"Hi Eddy." Ed says losing any happiness and good mood he had.

"Did you hear the good new Lumpy?" Eddy asks grabbing his book bag off the floor where he had dropped it when he got home the previous day.

"You told me all day yesterday that you made the team Eddy." Ed says moving out of the way so Eddy could leave his house.

"Damn straight, not even Lee and her annoying voice can stop me from being a winner. Let's go get Double Dee, my adoring fans are waiting." Eddy says locking his door and feeding his own ego.

Eddy's rude behavior carried with him when him and Ed reached Edd's home, and when Edd opened the door Eddy acted just as rude to Ed.

"Hey Romeo." Eddy says in the most sarcastic way possible to his friend in a white dress shirt and a black tie when he opened the door.

"Eddy." Edd says greeting his friend a little annoyed at the name and sarcasm he used. "Hello Ed." He says smiling at Ed giving him a proper greeting.

"Hello Double Dee." Ed says smiling and his good mood returning.

"Come on you nitwits, I wanna get to school ASAP." Eddy says turning around and walking away.

Edd was use to Eddy acting like a jerk so he just let it go thinking he was just overly happy about making the baseball team. He just hoped Eddy wouldn't say or do anything he would regret later.

At school the rest of their friends had already shown up and were standing around Kevin's car as they do every day.

"What is up my homies!" Eddy says greeting their group of friends.

The group of kids were a bit taken back by Eddy's greeting for them. "Hey Eddy." Kevin says.

"Did you see the team listings?" Eddy asks.

"Yeah, it kind of sucks that Rolf and Johnny didn't make the team. Better luck next year guys." Kevin says looking over to Johnny and Rolf.

"Its fine, baseball just isn't my game Kevin." Jonny says not letting the fact he didn't make the team bother him.

Eddy didn't even think about his other friends and if they had made the team or not, he was only concerned with himself.

"Yeah that stinks, but we made the team man." Eddy says giving Kevin a playful punch in the arm.

Edd was watching Eddy talk to Kevin and was shaking his head, he could tell that Eddy was only thinking of himself more so than usual.

He was about to tell Eddy that he should be a little more courteous to his friends when someone grabs him from behind and pulls him down and kisses him.

"Hello to you too Cupcake." Edd says when the blue haired girl in a green shirt with a black biohazard symbol on it along with a plaid skirt on and her skull beret in her hair let go of him.

"Hey Muffin, sorry I couldn't see you after school yesterday." She says hugging him.

"It's quite alright Lee needed you, I just hope she's doing better." Edd says hugging her back.

"She's still a little pissed, but she took out most of her anger on a locker yesterday." She says letting go of him.

"What did she do to a locker?" Edd asks curious as to what she could do to a locker to let out her anger.

"She punched the front of it so much that the door bent in and I don't think it will ever open again." She says laughing at the end.

Edd starts laughing along with her. "Oh my." He says still laughing.

While Edd and Marie laughed about Lee letting her anger out on a locker Ed pulls his backpack off and opens it as he walked over to May who was standing a few feet away.

As he walked up to the blond girl in a grey sweater and jeans he didn't feel the normal panic he would when he was around May.

"Hi Ed." May says her face lighting up as he approached.

"Hey so I was thinking that you would like to read some of the Batgirl comics." Ed says pulling a bag full of comic out of his backpack.

"That would be so awesome! Thank you Ed!" May says taking the bag from him.

"Just be sure to keep them with their boards." Ed says as she carefully puts the bag into her backpack.

From her place next to Kevin Nazz watched Ed and May talk. 'Soon there maybe another Ed's and Kanker relationship" She thinks watching May and Ed interact.

"Hey Blondie Ed's got stuff to do." Eddy says grabbing Ed by the collar of his jacket and pulling him away from May and up to the school. Ed didn't have anything to do but Eddy was getting tired of watching Ed talk to May.

"Oh um well bye." May says looking confused.

For the rest of the day Eddy was a jerk to everyone he would talk to and it was getting on everyone's nerves, especially Lee's. She had gone straight into the school in the morning leaving her sisters behind and as she sat at the lunch table with May watching Eddy her anger at him was growing.

Marie had once again chosen to sit with Edd and his friends during lunch and while she couldn't hear what was going on at the table, she could tell that Eddy wasn't say anything nice. This was proven true when he went to poke Edd in the chest and Marie grabbed his finger and bent it back.

"Hey keep your mitts off me." Eddy yelled at her pulling his finger out of her hand.

"Then quit being a jerk." Marie says placing her hand back on the table.

"I'm not being a jerk." He says back at her.

"You were called Double Dee a smarty pants know it all, I think that counts as being a jerk." She says fighting back.

"You would know all about that." Eddy says crossing his arms.

"Excuse me?" She says razing both of her eye brows.

Eddy was about to snap back at her but was caught off guard by someone grabbing him by the back of his shirt and pulling him up and away from the table.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Lee asks poking him in the chest.

"Wrong with me? What the hell are you doing?" He says straightening his shirt.

"You need to get off your damn high horse. You keep acting like this and you will be down to fewer friends than you had before everyone met that ass clown of an older brother you worshipped." She says looking down at him and getting right in his face. "You can be such an ass sometimes I just want to... errrgh." She shakes both fists at him before she storms off out of the lunch room.

The whole room had stopped to watch Lee yell at Eddy and then her march out the flinched simultaneously at the sound of her punching a locker.

"You've done it now you big idiot. She was only mad at you, now she's full blown pissed off at you." Marie says looking back from the doorway to Eddy.

"Like I care." Eddy says sitting back down, but he did care and Lee's words had hit home. He realized that he was acting like a jerk to everyone and had even forgotten that he had meant to tell Edd that he was sorry for how he had treated him and his girlfriend. For the rest of the lunch hour Eddy remained quiet and kept his head down not wanting to make eye contact with any of the people around him.

As the boys were putting their book bags into lockers in the boy's locker room Eddy decided to finally do what he promised to do.

"Hey um Ed, Double Dee." Eddy says scratching the back of his head.

"Yes Eddy?" Edd asks closing his own gym locker.

"Look I'm ah, I'm sorry for being a dick to you guys and for not believing you pacifically Double Dee. I didn't want to believe that you and Marie started dating and for thinking you had turned on me and Ed." Eddy says apologizing to his friends.

Edd was amazed that Eddy had apologized to him and Ed. "Thank you Eddy, I appreciate you admitting you were wrong. I know the idea of me dating Marie must have been quite a shock to you, but it's good to know you are ok with us."

"Alright alright, enough with this, lets this stupid class over with." Eddy says slapping his friends on the back trying to change the subject.

Eddy was not looking forward to Gym class today after what happened in the lunch room, but to his luck Lee had not shown up for the class.

"She's probably gone home." Marie says when Edd had asked her about where Lee could have gone.

"Eddy is going to end up getting her in trouble for missing class so much." Edd says watching Eddy walking to the bench against the wall.

Lee had in fact left the school when she had stormed out of the lunch room and Marie expected her to be in a very foul mood when she got home. Leaning up against the lockers next to Edd's she wondered if Lee had trashed anything in their home in a fit of rage.

"Hey there beautiful." She hears a familiar voice say.

"Hey handsome." She says turning to face Edd and pulling him into a hug and a kiss.

"No sign of Lee I'm guessing." He asks when they break the kiss.

"Nope, she's probably at home sulking, there is a chance the trailer may be trashed when I get home." She says letting go of him so he could open his locker.

"You don't sound like you want to go home." He says pulling a book from his messenger bag.

"No I do not."

"Well I have my Junior Scientist Club meeting today after school, but after that you are welcome to come over to my house." Edd says offering her an escape from her home for the night.

"How long is your meeting?" She asks as he closes his locker.

"It's about an hour or so, it's just a few of us from our school in the club so we meet up in the Library."

"I would love to come over to your house Muffin, and I could easily kill an hour in the Library."

"Cool, well then shall we?" He asks holding out his hand to her.

"Lead the way my brilliant boyfriend." She says taking his hand.

Edd and Marie were the first of the kids to arrive in the Library so they had a few minutes to kill.

"So what kind of stuff do you talk about at your club meetings?" Marie asks as they walked over to the group of tables in the corner of the Library.

"All kinds of stuff, new advances in technology we've heard about, discovery's in scientific fields and other things like that." Edd says pulling out a chair for her then himself.

"Sounds like you guys just nerd out." Marie says sitting down in the chair he had pulled out for her.

"I guess we kind of do." Edd says letting out a little laugh as he set his messenger bag down on the table.

Marie leans back in her chair and spots a boy walking into the room. "I think one of your fellow members has arrived."

Edd looks over at the entrance to the Library and spots the boy Marie saw. "Oh that is Jeremey, He is one of the senior members."

"M'kay, I'll go and find a way to busy myself." Marie says standing up.

"Oh I know." Edd says sticking his hand into his pocket. "Here, I know how much fun you have with this." He says holding his phone out to her.

"What happened to it being against the rules having your phone at school?" Marie asks taking the phone from him.

"I don't know, I guess I just don't think it's that big of a deal if I just keep it quiet and don't use it." Edd says surging.

"Once again, I influence you into breaking another rule." She says smiling at him.

"I guess you have." He says letting off a little laugh.

"Have fun nerding out Muffin." Marie says giving him a kiss on the cheek before walking away just as Jeremey reached the table.

"Hello Jeremey." Edd says as his fellow Junior Scientist Club member reaches the table. Jeremey was one of the two twelfth graders in the club. He was a tall skinny boy like Edd sept for he was a lot paler and had short red hair and glasses with a green polo shirt on over brown shorts.

"Got yourself a lady I see." Jeremy says sitting down next to Edd.

"That I did." Edd says boasting for the second time about dating Marie.

"What's this I hear? Little Edd's got a girlfriend?" Edd turns around to see who asked the question. It was a shorter heavier set boy with curly brown hair wearing a dark red shirt and jeans.

"Oh, Hello Brent." Edd says to the second boy to join the group. Brent was the only eleventh grader in the group. "And yes I do have a girlfriend."

"Nice." Brent says giving Edd a playful punch in the shoulder. The punch was more of a tap, but it still knocked him a little out of his chair.

"Is John coming?" Brent asks sitting down in one of the chairs.

"Fear not guys, your king has arrived." A voice says from behind them.

The three boys look to the door and see the fourth member of their club. John was not only the leader of the club, but he is also the smartest kid in the twelfth grade. He wasn't as tall as Jeremey, but he still had some height. John knew full well that he was the smartest kid in the school so he is known for pointing it out quite often, like calling himself a king.

"Hello John." Edd says as the leader of the club sat down.

"Hey guys." John says greeting the group of them. "Listen I can't stay too long, I have an interview with a MIT recruiter." He says as he leaned back in his chair boasting.

"Nice man." Brent says.

While Edd talked with his club members Marie had gone and sat in the chair's Edd and her had used the few times they had gone into the Library when they were locked in the school. She was sitting sideways with her feet in the chair next to the one she sat in. She had been playing the bird pipe game for a while and was starting to get good at it.

"Come on you stupid bird." She says getting more and more into the game.

"Crap!" She says when the bird hits a pipe dyeing. "I was so close to a new record." She says dropping the phone onto her stomach and leaning her head back onto the arm rest. Looking up at the ceiling she takes a deep breath and blows at her hair she has hanging over her eye.

She sat like that for a while until she started to get bored. Picking up Edd's phone she started to look through it. Edd didn't have many pictures on his phone, there were ones of various bugs he's seen and different stages of his projects he made. She then came to the one she took a few days ago and smiles. The picture reminded her of the picnic date he took her on and she gets lost in her thoughts of everything she's done with her boyfriend over the past week and a half. She stayed lost in her thoughts for the rest of the meeting and didn't see Edd walk over to her.

"Are you awake?" Edd asks her walking up to her.

Sitting up she smiles at him and says; "Yep."

"Ok the meeting is done, so you ready to get going?" He asks holding out his hand to help her stand up.

Taking his hand and pulling herself up she says; "Yep." And when she was standing up fully she pulls him into a hung then leans up and gives him a long kiss.

"Should I ask what that was for?" He asks when they finally break the kiss.

"Cause I wanted to." She says wrapping his hair around her index finger.

He lets out a little laugh and says; "Ok, well we should get going before we get locked in the school again."

Marie lets out a loud laugh. "Yeah, cause who knows what the two of us might get into if they left us in here."

Edd laughs at her joke. "You're adorable." He says as they join hands and start to walk out of the Library.

"So how was the meeting of the best and the brightest of the school?" Marie asks when they exit the school.

"Pretty much the same as every month, John spent the whole time bragging about his interview with an MIT recruiter." Edd says not caring about John's interview.

"I bet you could get into that school Double Dee." Marie says.

"Maybe, oh something you might find funny. The lecture I was supposed to go to last week to was cut short cause the speaker had something come up." Edd says remembering one of the things they talked about at the meeting.

"Huh, so I guess you didn't miss much then." She says as they walked away from the school.

"No I didn't, they did questioned me as to why I missed the trip and I told them I was "unable to attend do to being locked in a unique situation that ended with a gain I never thought I would get"'. Edd says telling her what he had told his club members.

"Why did you tell them what happened like that?" Marie asks unsure why he worded it so complexly.

"Cause I didn't think they would believe me if I told them I ended up trapped in the school with you for the weekend, then ditched school to go on a date and we ended up as a couple after." He says giving her his reasons for why he explained what happened the way he did.

"You just wanted to try and out word them didn't you?" She asks poking him in the shoulder.

"That was not my original intention, but I guess I did in a way."

Laughing again she says; "Does that count as using your brain power for evil?"

"Implying that I am going evil?" He asks raising his eyebrow.

"Na, I just like the idea of you being bad." She says shaking her head.

"Should I start wearing all black and dye my hair?" He asks smiling.

"Hell no, you are too damn cute in your dress shirts and I love your black hair. You stay as the good one and I'll hold my place as the queen of bad." She says pulling him closer to her with their joined hands and leaning her head against his shoulder.

It didn't take much more time for Marie and Edd to reach the cul-de-sack and soon they were walking up the path to Edd's house.

"Do you want something to drink?" Edd asks when they enter his house.

It wasn't the first time Marie had been inside Edd's house, even before they started dating she had found her way into it a few times. But this was only her third time since they became a couple and she was still excited to be in his house. "What you got?" She asks pulling her black backpack off her back.

"I'm not sure, I'd have to look." Edd says scratching chin.

"Ok." She says grabbing his hand and pulling him into his own kitchen.

In the kitchen Edd opens the fridge and looks to see what he has for drinks. "Let's see, I have some soda, milk, orange juice and purified water." He says listing off what there was to drink in the fridge.

"I'll take a soda please Muffin." She says leaning on the fridge door to look into it herself.

"Alright." He says pulling out two cans of soda.

He hands one of the cans to her and she asks; "So where do you have your TV?"

"Father has it in the den." He says closing the fridge door.

"That's the room down the hall isn't it?" Marie asks thinking back on the past times she's been in his house.

"Yes it is." Edd says answering her.

"I remember that room, Ed jumped through the window to get away from May once." She says as they walk out of the kitchen.

"Oh god I remember that, Mother and Father were furious at me. Luckily I told them the window was broken when we were playing baseball so they didn't hold any of us at too much fault." Edd says leading her down the hall.

"You lied to your parents? Wow Double Dee." She says amazed that he lied to his parents.

"Well we were playing baseball in the street before you and your sisters showed up, so it was technically true."

"He he, clever boy." She says as they entered the den.

Inside the room Edd leads her over to the couch against the wall and they sit down. Edd sat down on the far right side of the couch straight and proper like always and Marie had chosen to get as comfortable as she could, so she laid down on the couch and rested her head on Edd's lap.

"Comfy?" Edd asks looking down to her.

Rolling onto her back she says; "Yep, so what do you wanna watch?"

"Not sure, let's see what is on." Edd says picking up the remote and turning on the TV that was across from them.

Edd flipped through the channels and eventually stops on a cartoon channel. "You up for watching cartoons?" He asks looking down to Marie.

"Sure, cartoons are fun." Marie says rolling back over onto her side.

As they sat watching TV Edd had started to play with Marie's hair just like she has done with his, and she had closed her eyes enjoying the feeling of him playing with her hair. They were so lost in watching TV that they didn't hear the front door open or Edd's mother walk into the house.

Closing the door Edd's mother spots a backpack on the floor she's never seen before. "Hum, one of Eddwards friends probably." She says putting her keys away in her pursue. She was about to walk up the stairs and change out of her work clothes when she hears a girls laugh come from the den. Curious as to who could be back in the den she walks down the hall and hears Edd laugh just as she reaches the entryway into the den. Stepping into the room she spots her son sitting on the couch with a blue haired girl lying on her side resting her head on his lap.

"Hello Eddward." She says bringing their attention to her.

Edd jumps and Marie quickly sits up and they both look over at Edd's mother. "Oh, hello Mother. I did not hear you come in." Edd says feeling a little panicky that his mother saw him and Marie.

"It's ok dear, so who is this?" She asks looking Marie over. She had guessed this girl to be his girlfriend, but she did not expect him to bring home a girl dressed so much like a bad kid.

"Oh yes um, this is Marie, my girlfriend." Edd says gesturing with his hand to Marie.

"Hi Mrs. Double Dee's mom." Marie says smiling.

"Please, call me Pam. So you are the girlfriend I have heard about, Edd has said only good things about you." Pam says.

"Ok Mrs. Double-, er Pam. I think it's about time I get going Double Dee." Marie says turning to face Edd.

"Oh come now you must stay for dinner, Eddward's Father is working late so it would just be the two of us otherwise." Pam says before Edd could give Marie an answer.

"I wouldn't want to impose." Marie says.

"I won't take no for an answer. Eddward would you please put one of the lasagnas in the oven while I go and change out of this suite?" She asks walking out of the room so Marie couldn't protest any more.

"Well I guess I'm staying for dinner." Marie says turning to Edd.

"I guess you are, care to help me with dinner this time?" Edd asks turning off the TV before standing up from the couch and holding out a hand to her.

"Sure, it is my turn to in a way." Marie says taking his hand and pulling herself up.

"Oh yeah, well there really isn't much to do so the odds of a mess being made is slim to none." He says as they walk out of the room.

In the kitchen Edd opens up the freezer door on the fridge and Marie see that there are several frozen family size meals inside. Even with how short money is in her household Marie's mother always buys food that required some form of preparation so they would have the closes thing to a home cooked meal they could have, except for toaster waffles. But seeing Edd's freezer full of frozen food she felt a little sorry for him that he didn't get home cooking.

Edd caught the sad look on her face when he pulled out one of the frozen lasagnas from the freezer. "Mother and Father work so much that they seldom have time to cook." He says closing the door of the freezer.

"What do your parents do?" Marie asks curious about his parent's line of work.

"Mother is a corporate attorney and Father runs a consulting business." Edd says setting the box on the kitchen counter.

"Damn I didn't think your parents where that successful." Marie says shocked by what his parents do.

"Yes they quite are." Edd says smiling. Edd is proud of his parents and their success in life, even if it has cost him bonding time with them.

Pam had opted to take a shower on top of changing out of her work clothes, so an hour later when she entered the kitchen she finds Edd had set the table for the three of them and had the lasagna sitting on the table ready for them to start eating.

"Thank you for setting the table Eddward." Pam says sitting down at the table across from Edd.

"You're welcome Mother." Edd says laying a napkin on his lap.

Picking up the spatula to start serving the lasagnas Pam turns to Marie and asks her; "So Marie, I take it you're in the same grade as Eddward?"

"Yep since we moved to Peach Creek." Marie says picking up her fork and spinning it in her fingers.

"Are you in the Junior Scientist Club with him?" Pam asks thinking that maybe she's just one of those kids that dress rebellious to hide her intelligence.

"I wish I was half as smart as Edd." Marie says using his real name to try and be as polite as she could.

"Oh, well do you have any plans for after graduation?" Pam asks placing a slice of the lasagnas on Marie's plate thinking it was fine if her son dated someone that wasn't on his level of intelligence.

"Getting to graduation would be great." Marie says sticking her fork into her lasagna.

This shocked Pam. "I'm sure you must be exaggerating Marie." She says not believing Marie.

"School works never been my strong point." Marie says eating a piece of the lasagna.

Wanting to change the subject Pam asks; "Do you and your family live in the cul-de-sack?"

"Na, me and my two sisters live with our mom in the trailer park behind it."

Pam hasn't heard anything good about the park. But she's never believed what she's heard. "So did you and your sisters play with Eddward and the other kids when you were younger?" She asked wanting to know more about Marie.

She didn't think Pam would care to hear about all the times her and her sisters had tormented Edd so she says; "Yeah, we played together occasionally didn't we Edd?" Marie says smiling and turning to Edd.

Letting out a little laugh he says; "Oh yes, the times we'd play together were all very rememberable."

'It makes sense they were friends for years, it's only natural for them to be drawn together.' Pam thinks watching her son laugh at his girlfriend.

"The drawing you did of Eddward is quite impressive Marie, you are quite a talented artists for your age." Pam says remembering the drawing in Edd's room.

"Thanks, drawing and painting is the one thing I'm good at." She is also good at bullying but again, she didn't think Edd's mother would want to hear that.

"Well if you work at it I bet you could get into an art school after graduation."

"Why? So I can have someone who couldn't make it as an artist tell me that my way of drawing is wrong? Art isn't about following everyone else and doing what is expected. It's about creating what you want to regardless if people like it or not." Marie says her passion for art showing. "Sorry for getting a little ranty Pam, I do that sometimes when I talk about art."

Pam was amazed by her passion for art. "It's quite alright, it's nice to see kids with that much passion."

Marie wasn't the kind of girl she thought Edd would bring home, but she liked Marie and thought it was cute that they were childhood friends and now sweethearts.

After they had finished dinner Edd had offered to walk Marie home.

"Sorry for my mother playing twenty questions at dinner." Edd says when they enter the trailer park.

"Its fine, just wait till my mom meets you, she's going to want to know even more about you." Marie says.

"Should I come prepared?" Edd asks.

"Yep, so bring a copy of your birth certificate and a blood sample when you do come to meet her." She says grinning as Edd started to laugh.

**So those of you that have been following this story have probability come to expect a new chapter every Tuesday (so this has probably got you asking what is going on) but I hate to say that it isn't going to be happening any more, cause I am officially done writing all the chapters. I have been working hard on this with all my free time and was only publishing a new chapter every week in case something came up and I would fall behind on writing. So I'm going to be putting out at least one new chapter every day until the end, so enjoy the rush of content.**


	13. Chapter 13: Wednesday

Edd was feeling a bit awkward this morning walking to school with Ed and Eddy, he couldn't pick out a tie to wear with his black dress shirt and so he had gone to school without one. This was the first time he's not worn a tie to school in years and he didn't like it. Throughout the whole walk to school he would instinctively reach up to adjust his tie, but would stop halfway remembering he didn't have one on.

At school he kept fiddling with his shirt collar trying to get it to feel right.

"Something wrong with your shirt Muffin?" He hears Marie asks from behind him.

"I couldn't find a tie to go with my shirt so I didn't wear one, and now I feel like I'm not dressed properly." Edd says turning around to face his girlfriend.

"You look fine to me, you got this whole proper rebellious look going on with the black shirt, blue jeans and your hat with my button." She says grabbing his wrists with her hands and pulling him close to herself.

"And you look ever the bad girl." He says looking her over. She was dressed in her black shirt with a white skull on it and its sleeves ripped off and a dirty green colored mini skirt.

"This is my favorite shirt you know." She says pulling him into a hug.

"Why is that may I ask"" He asks hugging her back.

"Cause this is the shirt I wore when we spent the weekend together silly." She says as she leans up to give him a kiss.

"Seems like a reasonable answer." He says smiling at her.

"So why didn't you wear your red tie Double Dee, it would have looked well with your black shirt." Marie says thinking over the different ties she's seen him in.

"I didn't even think of that." He says as his eyes grow wide realizing that his red tie would have worked for the day.

"He he, its ok Double Dee, you're allowed to not know a few things." She says laughing.

For the rest of the day Edd's lack of a tie bothered him, even with Marie telling him he looked fine.

"I should keep an emergency tie or a clip on bowtie in my locker for the next time." Edd says to himself walking out of the English classroom.

"Oh quit complaining Sock Head. So you forgot your tie, big deal." Eddy says walking out of the room after Edd. After Lee had gone off on him he had lost interest in dressing too flashy. So he was just in a yellow t-shirt and jeans.

"You don't understand Eddy, I have an obligation to maintain a certain level of professionalism." Edd says turning to Eddy.

"Whatever man. Your lady liked how you looked, isn't that enough?" Eddy says giving Edd a playful push.

"Eddy." Edd says as he stumbled from Eddy's push. The push annoyed him a little, but he was use to Eddy's shenanigans.

"I'm just giving you a hard time." Eddy says as they walk down the hall.

"Oh I know. But you should tread with caution, I am the boyfriend of the toughest girl in our class remember." Edd says smiling as he joked with Eddy.

"Can you believe this Ed? Double Dee made a joke about sicking his girlfriend on me." Eddy says elbowing Ed in the side. The elbow to the side had knocked Ed's glasses off his head and he just barely caught them. He wipes the lenses off with his green t-shirt before putting them back on

"I don't think Marie would hurt you over a push Eddy." Ed says as they neared the entrance to the lunch room.

"Who am I hurting?" Marie asks walking up behind the Ed's.

"No one in particular." Edd says turning to face her.

"Good cause my beating schedule is already full." She says walking up to Edd and taking his hand with hers and lacing their fingers together.

"You're joking I hope?" Edd asks her as they continue their walk into the lunch room.

"Maybe." Marie says grinning as the four of them joined the lunch line.

"Well, just don't get caught." Edd says laughing and squeezing her hand.

"I never do." She says squeezing his hand back.

After they had gotten their trays of food the four sat down at one of the empty tables to eat.

"So do you work today Double Dee?" Marie asks Edd as she takes a bite out of her hamburger.

"I do, I had to swap around some shifts so I could have Friday off." Edd says taking a bite from his own hamburger.

"Um… could I join you guys?" A blond girl in a pink tank top and dark blue pants asks walking up to the table.

The four kids turn to look and see May standing by the table. "Of course sis, but why aren't you sitting with Lee?" Marie says answering her for the whole table.

"She got busted for giving that cheerleader and atomic wedgie and tossing her into a full dumpster last week." May says setting her tray down on the table.

"Is that what you two did to her? Damn, Lee let her off light." Marie says scooting over so her sister could sit down.

"That is light? That sounds horrible." Edd says shocked that Marie had called what Lee did to the other girl light.

"Oh yeah, Lee isn't as vocal about it but she is the baddest girl in the school. I just boast the most so people think I am." Marie says grinning.

"I will try and remember to always be on her good side." Edd says making a mental note to always be nice to Lee.

"Hey Ed, thanks again for lending me those comics, I really like them." May says to Ed.

"You're welcome Batgirl is a pretty cool character, too bad they kind of messed her up in that movie." Ed says.

"She was in a movie?" May asks getting excited.

"She was, unfortunately the movie wasn't that good. " Ed says. Ed hadn't felt any fear or panic when he spotted May, he just saw her as a fellow comic book fan.

As Ed and May talked about superhero movies Edd watched them and thought it was kind of cute how they are acting.

Eddy however was a little annoyed that there are two Kanker's at his table, but remembered that he did promise to be nicer so he just pushed it to the back of his mind and continued to eat his lunch.

Lee wasn't in gym and May and Marie wouldn't find out that her mother had to come and get her from the school office till they got home.

"Lucked out again Eddy." Edd says when there was no sign of Lee in the gym.

"I'm not complaining about it." Eddy says as he stretches out on the bench against the wall and closing his eyes.

Walking down the hall to his final class Edd spots someone he was not expecting, leaning against the lockers was Marie looking down the hall at him.

"Hello Marie, I didn't expect to see you here." He says walking up to her.

"That's cause I got a fun idea." She says her wicked smile appearing on her face.

"A fun idea?" He asks as she stands up from the lockers.

"Well seeing as you're dressed the part, I was wondering if you'd like to take a walk on the wild side?" She asks wrapping her arms around his neck.

"And that means?" He asks placing his hands on her hips.

"Ditch last period with me." She says as she starts to play with his hair.

"What?" He asks not sure if he hear her right.

"Ditch your last class with me, it's just Study hall after all."

"Ditch? Are you serious? What if they notice I'm gone or if we get caught, what if Mother or Father find-" He was cut off by her leaning up and kissing him.

"They don't do roll call in study hall, I have yet to be caught and how will your parents find out if no one tells them?" She says breaking the kiss.

"But but." He says trying to think of other reasons to not ditch study hall.

"But nothing. Come on Double Dee, it'll be fun." She says leaning up to give him another kiss.

He didn't know if it was her kissing him, her being a bad influence or him wanting to show her that he could be adventurous as her. "Ok, let's do this." He says smiling at her.

"Yay! Follow me." She says grabbing his wrist and pulling him down the hallway.

Marie Leads Edd down the hallway quickly but keeping quiet as they reached the back door of the school. They stop at the door and She pushes it open and sticks her head out and looks around.

Pulling her head back in she says; "Ok coast is clear, let's go." And grabs Edd's hand and pulls him out of the door.

'I can't believe we are doing this.' He thinks as they make their way to the fence that bordered the school grounds.

When they reach the fence Marie looks around to make sure no one was around. "Ok, through here." She says lifting up a part of the chain-link fence that was broken. Ducking down Edd make his way under the fence and Marie follows behind him.

"Well we are officially off the school grounds, you still up for this?" Marie asks.

"My heart is racing a little but yes." Edd says looking around.

"Good, cause now it's time for the real fun." She says taking his hand in hers lacing their fingers.

The school was right on the edge of town so it took them little time to get into the city.

"Ok, now what?" Edd asks as they stop on the side walk.

"Dono, I never think these things that far ahead." Marie says shrugging her shoulders." We got an hour till you have to be at work, so let's just walk around and see what mischief we can get into."

Edd was not surprised that Marie didn't have a plan for the day but that was one of the things he liked about her, her unpredictable nature.

They walked along the streets of Peach Creek and eventually end up at a convenience store.

"Would you like something to drink or maybe a snack?" Edd asks as they walk into the parking lot of the shop.

"Yes please. " Marie says smiling at him.

"Ok, pick out whatever you would like Cupcake." He says holding the door open for her.

"Thank you Muffin." She says walking through the door.

They walk around the convenience store looking around for drinks or snacks they wanted and after a few minutes they met up at the counter. Marie had picked out a small bag of beef jerky and a cup of coffee from a machine that made flavored coffee. Edd had chosen to go a healthier route with a bottle of water and a few granola bars.

"This all for you today?" The clerk asks as Edd and Marie sets their items on the counter.

"Oh and this too." Marie says grabbing a pack of gum off a stand on the counter. "If that is ok?" She asks looking at Edd.

"The gum too please." Edd says pulling out his wallet.

"Thank you Muffin." Marie says giving Edd a kiss on the cheek as the clerk rang everything up.

"Ok, seven even." The clerk says.

Edd opens his wallet and takes a few bills out. "Here you go." He says handing them to the clerk.

"Thanks, come again." The clerk says taking the bills and putting them into the register.

"Thank you." Edd says as Marie and him pick up their items.

Walking out the front door, being held open by Edd, Marie asks; "How much time we got left till you have to be at work?"

Looking at his pocket watch he sees that it's still twenty minutes till school would have ended. Making a quick calculation in his head of the difference in distance from the school to the mall and where he is now, he figured that he had about ten more minutes on top of the twenty he already had. "We have about thirty minutes from here and now." He says putting his watch away.

"Sweet, we got plenty of time." She says taking a drink from her coffee. "Mm, Mocha Coffee is the best."

"You know I've never had coffee before." He says watching her drink from her cup.

"Really? Try some of mine." She says holding her cup out to him.

Again feeling adventurous he takes her cup and takes a drink from it. "This is really good." He says enjoying the taste of the warm chocolate flavored drink.

"I had a feeling you'd like it." Marie says as Edd offered the cup back to her.

"Thank you for letting me try it, I'd offer you a taste of my bottle of water but all water tends to taste the same." He says as she took the cup back from him.

"It's the thought that counts." She says smiling at him as she ripped open her bag of jerky.

They walked down the street drinking and eating their snacks but eventually stop and sat down on the curb. Marie had finished off her coffee and pulled out a pen from her backpack to draw on the side of the cup.

"What are you drawing?" Edd asks looking over at her work in progress.

"So far it's just a snake wrapping around the cup, but I don't know what it's going to be in the end." Marie says holding the cup out in front of him to see.

They continued to sit on the curb while Marie drew on her cup and Edd watching her draw. She had added an upside down house, a dog with wings and rabbit ears and a chicken with a rocket on its back.

"You're really getting creative with this." Edd says as she drew flames coming out of the rocket.

"You wouldn't want to see a chicken with a rocket on its back?" Marie asks looking at the cup and spinning the pen in her fingers.

"I think it's cute just don't tell Ed, he may try it."

"Yeah, that would end badly for the chicken." She says rotating the cup. She couldn't think of anything else to add to it so she holds it to Edd and says; "Here you can have it, if you want it that is."

"I'd love to have it." He says taking the cup from her. He looks into the cup and sees that there is still some coffee left in it, so using the last drinks worth of water from his bottle he cleans out the cup by swirling the water around the inside of with a quick flick of his wrist he dumps the water out onto the road and gently taps the edge of the cup against the side of the curb to get the last few drop of water out.

"There we go." He says pulling his messenger bag around onto his lap to put the cup away. "Now there is no chance of and of the leftover coffee getting on the things in my bag."

"You're adorable Double Dee." She says watching him carefully put the cup into his bag.

"So are you Marie." He says smiling at her.

"How much longer?" She asks wondering how much more time she has left with her boyfriend.

"Let's see." He says taking out his pocket watch. "We have about ten more minutes."

"That's lame, could I walk with you to work?" She asks hoping to spend a little more time with him.

He stands up from the curb and turns to her holding his hand out to her. "You didn't need to ask, you are always welcome to walk with me."

They had chosen a longer way to the mall so they could fully enjoy the rest of their time together and arrived at the mall right on time.

"So did you enjoy your time as a delinquent?" Marie asks as Edd holds open the front door for her.

"Any time spent with you is enjoyment, as a delinquent or otherwise." Edd says following her through the door.

"So long as there are no regrets." She says as they rejoin hands and start walking down the hall.

Once they reached the entrance of the Radio Shack Marie turns to Edd and says; "Thanks for playing hooky with me today, I really didn't want to deal with that math test today."

"You ditched to avoid a math test?" He asks his eyes growing a little wide.

"You're not mad at me are you?" She asks feeling a little guilty.

"I'm not mad, but why would you avoid a test today, that you are just going to have to do tomorrow?" He asks not mad at her at all.

"Cause I stink at math." She says shrugging her shoulders.

"If you need help with your math I am more than happy to help you with it, I am the smartest person in our class." He says boasting a little at the end.

"I might take you up on that." She says pulling him into a hug and then leans up to kiss him. "Bye Muffin have a good night, don't daydream about me too much and I'll see you tomorrow."

"I will try and keep my focus on my work instead of your beautiful self." He says giving her a quick hug.

Feeling a bit of her evil side take over she decides to tease him a little before she left for home. So when they let go of each other say says; "Bye bye Double Dee." And when he turns around to enter the shop she pinches his butt.

That caused him to jump and say; "Oh my." He turns around to see she's already a good distance away from him laughing. "Marie." He says laughing and rubbing where she had pitched him.

Still laughing she blows him a kiss before she turned and walked away.

'She is wild sometimes.' He thinks watching her walk away before turning to enter the shop.

Despite his promise to not day dream about her, after an hour of being at work Edd was leaning against the register counter thinking about Marie. Lost in his thoughts of his blue haired bad girl of a girlfriend he didn't see his coworker looking at him with a questioning look.

"What is up with Edd?" the coworker asks their boss.

Their boss looks at Edd and laughs. "It's simple, the kids in love." Snapping his finger he says; "Edd, can you head into the back room and bring up some more five packs of AA batteries."

Hearing his name Edd snapped out of his day dream. "Yes AA's, got it." He says then walked from behind the counter and into the back room.

"That should keep his mind occupied for a while." Their boss says crossing his arms.

"Why is that sir?" the coworker asks.

"Cause we have been out of the five packs since yesterday and won't be getting anymore till tomorrow." Their boss says laughing.

Back at the trailer May was sitting on the three sisters bed reading the last of the comic's Ed had lent her. She was really enjoying them and wasn't paying attention to anything other than the story she was reading.

"Your turn nerdy aren't you May?" Looking up from the comic she spots Marie standing in the doorway.

"What do you mean?" May asks her unsure of what is taking about.

"you're up here reading comic books instead of downstairs watching TV with Mom and Lee, that's kind of a nerdy thing to do isn't it?" Marie asks walking into the room and sitting down on the bed and opening her back pack.

"Says the girl dating the smartest boy in our class." May says closing the comic.

"So? Just cause I'm dating a brain doesn't mean I'm going to become one." Marie says pulling out a text book and one of her notebooks.

"Then why are you doing your homework this early if Double Dee isn't influencing you?" May asks grinning.

"Ooo, nice one May." Marie says impressed by her sister's witty response.


	14. Chapter 14: Thursday

May sometimes hated being the youngest of her and her sisters. She is the last to get a shower in the morning, which is usually a cold one and is the last to get anything to eat for breakfast. So after her cold shower and picking out a faded blue t-shirt and a pair of ripped jeans from her own selection of clothing, all of which is second hand from Lee or Marie, she heads downstairs to see if there is anything to eat.

Down in the kitchen May finds her sisters have already eaten. "Is there anything left to eat?" She asks looking over at Marie who was tying the laces on her black shoes.

Marie pulls down the legs of her black skinny jeans then stands up and turns to her sister. "Yeah, there are some toaster waffles left." She says adjusting her sleeveless white button up shirt. May had noticed that since Marie had started dating Edd she has been a little nicer to her each day, and while at first she thought it was just a side effect from her getting Edd. She's started to think its Edd influence that is making her a nicer person, and is enjoying the change.

"Thanks Marie." May says walking over to the fridge and opening the freezer door. Inside the freezer she finds the box of toaster waffles still had a few left in it, before there would only be one or two waffles left but today there was four still uneaten. It was only two more than she is used to seeing, but in her mind that was a big difference. But not wanting to seem greedy she only takes two out and pops them into the toaster.

"So where is Lee?" May asks as Marie clears off the dirty plates from the table.

"I was up talking to Mom." Lee says walking into the kitchen.

"Lee what is up with that getup?" Marie asks looking her sister over. Lee was dressed in a full length light blue with red polka-dot skirt and matching button up t-shirt.

"It's some of mom's old clothes. After she finished her shift yesterday we had some mother daughter time and she found some of her old things and gave them to me. YOU got a problem with how I look in it?" Lee says explaining where she got her new clothes from.

"Not at all, it looks good on you." Marie says rinsing off her plate.

"Good, I'd hate for your man to see you with a black eye." Lee says smiling, she really liked her new clothes her mom had given her. It was the first time she's ever worn a skirt and she felt almost pretty, but she would never tell anyone.

"Hurry up and eat May, we got to leave soon." Lee says as May's waffles pop up out of the toaster.

"K." May says taking a bite out of one of her waffles.

May had already put the bag of comics back into her backpack the night before so she was ready to bring them back to Ed in the morning. Comics were original a means to an end to get Ed to start talking to her, but now she really likes them. She's begun to care more about being Ed's friend over getting him to like her like Edd likes Marie. But she still has her same affection for Ed she's always had, it's just been put on the back burner for now.

So when she saw Ed standing with the rest of his group of friends she gets excited like someone would when they see their best friend after a long time apart from them.

"Hi Ed." She says walking up to the tall boy in his green jacket over a brown t-shirt and faded jeans.

"Hello May." Ed says turning to her and smiling. His fears of her from the past are long gone, though girls still scare him in general.

"I have you comics for you." She says pulling her backpack off her back and pulling out the bag of comics.

"Oh cool, thanks." Ed says taking the bag of comics from her.

"No thank you Ed, I really enjoyed them." May says putting her bag back on.

As May talked to Ed and Marie went to greet her white dress shirt black tie and black jeaned boyfriend Lee thought back to the previous day when she was with their Mother.

It was not uncommon for the Kanker sisters to help their mom at her job at the diner she worked at.

"So what did you do this time Lee?" A lady behind the counter of the diner asks as Lee and her mother walked in.

"I got busted for bullying a girl a school." Lee says to the lady.

"She gave this poor girl a wedgie after she hit her and her friends with a water balloon and then threw her into a dumpster." Lee's Mother says as she takes off her jacket.

"Damn Lee, what did this girl do to you?" The lady asks shocked by what Lee had done.

"She disrespected my sisters and me." Lee says grinning.

"Enough of that, go grab an apron Lee and start taking orders out to tables." Her mother says shaking her head. She did think it was a funny that Lee sticks up for her and her sisters in her creative ways, but she knew Lee needed to stop bullying the kids at her school.

Six hours later after Lee and her mother finished the shift at the diner they walked out the front door tired.

"Damn this was a busy day." Lee's mother says as she pulls out the keys to her old red truck.

"Yeah it was, sorry you had to leave work to come get me Mom." Lee says as her mother opens the driver's side door.

"It's fine Lee, with your help we got through that dinner rush faster than we would have." Her mother says unlocking Lee's door.

"Still I'm better than that, I guess all that's been going on with Marie and May had me on the edge of my nerves." Lee says as she climbed into the truck and put on her seat belt.

Doing some quick math in her head Lee's mother then says; "We made a bit more from our tips, why don't we go get a bucket of KFC and you can tell me what's been going on."

As they drove down the road Lee told her mother about Marie starting a relationship with Edd, then May changing how she acted around Ed and how Lee thought her sisters were changing for the worst but realized the error of her ways.

Her mother knew of her daughters crushes on the Ed's so she had asked Lee if she had gotten anywhere with Eddy. Lee then told her mother of the last two interactions she had with Eddy and how she has been mad at him more than she ever has been.

"Boys are so much different now a days, seems like force just doesn't work anymore." Her mother says as she hands the cashier at the KFC drive through some money.

"May said the same thing." Lee says letting out a little laugh.

"Look if you really want this boy to like you and if being nicer worked for your sisters, then give it a try. Just remember not to change who you are for anyone." Her mother says placing her hand on Lee's shoulder.

"But what about Kanker's are tough to the end?" Lee asks.

"Hey we can still be tough as nails, but be nice about it." Her mother says grinning. Lee and her mother both start laughing at what she had said.

Eddy hadn't paid any attention when his friends talked to their Kanker's in the morning nor did even see Lee during lunch. So when he finally saw her in gym he was shocked to see her dressed in a skirt and couldn't help but think that it looked good on her. But that was soon replaced by fear of what she might do or say to him after the past few days.

But when the coach told the group of kids to partner up she just said; "Ok let's get this over with."

He started to worry that she had some big evil plan to make him pay for what he did, but Lee had chosen to give him a pass on punishment for now and would only make him pay if he acted like that big of an ass again.

Hoping to get a feel for how mad she is at him Eddy decides to try and start a conversation with her. "What a past couple of weeks huh?" He asks preparing for the worst.

"Tell me about it. Ever sense that sister of mine started dating Double Dee the amount of stuff I have had to deal with seems to have doubled." Lee says rolling her eyes.

"I know right? Him starting to growing a backbone and fighting back, then Lumpy getting all friendly with May. It's like the world is being manipulated by some evil genius." He says agreeing with her.

"Booth of our flunkeys have been making our lives stressful." She says.

"Ha yeah." He says agreeing with her. Hoping she was in a good mood he thought he could keep up with his making amends with people. "Hey um, sorry for being a big headed ass."

"I guess I should apologies for Friday, maybe that was a bit too much." She says apologizing for harassing him at his baseball tryouts.

"That was mean as hell, but I should have known you would have done something like that."

"Hey I'm a Kanker, we are always mean Stubs."

Normally Eddy would get mad at someone for a joke like that, but he just laughs it off. "Oh I know, you are a mean red headed demon." He says laughing.

"Red headed demon am I?" Lee asks laughing herself. "I hope you're not implying that you are some kind of angle, because you are anything but that you ninny."

"Compared to you I am." He says laughing.

"Ha! You are almost as bad as I am, you just lack the right level of brain power to make scams that work."

For the rest of the class Eddy and Lee were throwing insults back and for at each other laughing at them, and when the bell rang ending the class Lee says to Eddy; "Late Sawdust for Brains." With a smile on her face.

"Late Trailer Queen." He says back to her.

Eddy didn't think anything of his friendly insulting he did with Lee, he didn't think it was that big of a deal. So when he sat down in his desk for his final class of the day he wondered why Nazz was grinning at him.

"What?" He asks looking at her.

"So I heard you and Lee finally participated in gym." Nazz says still grinning at him

"Yeah, so it was either do the stupid dancing or get in trouble with my folks."

"Sure Eddy whatever you say, I think it's cool that you are being nicer to Lee." She says leaning back in her chair.

"Ok so maybe she's not as bad as she once was, and she can insult with the best." He says rolling his eyes at Nazz.

Leaning up against the lockers Marie looks at the paper in her hand and lets out a long sigh then leans her head back against the locker.

"Something wrong?" She hears her boyfriend asks.

Turning her head to face him she says; "Yeah I did really bad on that test I was so keen on missing yesterday."

"How bad did you do?" He asks concerned.

"This bad." She says holding the paper out to him.

Edd takes the paper and looks it over, she had gotten a D- for a grade which made him feel bad for her. But as he looked over her work he sees that she was close to getting most of them right. "You know you were not that far off on some of these." He says looking up from the paper at her.

"Not far off still gets you a bad grade, Mom is going to be mad at me for this." Marie says dreading what her mom will say about her grades. Her mother had gotten a bit stick with Marie and her sisters since they reached high school about their grades. She knew her girls would never reach honor roll level, but wanted them to have a better chance in life then she did and hoped they could avoid the same mistakes she had made.

"My offer from yesterday still stands Marie." He says holding her test paper out to her.

"To help me with my school work?" She asks as he opens his locker.

"I wouldn't call it helping you, more like guiding you in the right direction." He says as he put a book into his locker.

Liking the idea of Edd helping her and spending another afternoon with him she smiles and says; "I'd love for you to give me some private lessons Double Dee."

Laughing at what she said he says; "Well I'm supposed to help Eddy and Ed today, but you are more than welcome to join us."

"Sure, shall we get going?" She asks as he closes his locker.

"Well I actually have something I need to take care of beforehand, it's nothing serious so if you still want to you can come over in like an hour." He says revealing they can't go straight to his house.

"Couldn't I come with you on your errand?" She asks as the walk down the hall holding hands.

"I guess you can, but it's going to be kind of boring."

"I'm never bored when I'm with you silly." She says as he opened the door for her.

Edd's errands consisted of stopping at the ATM outside of the local credit union to deposit his paycheck and to visit the barber shop ran by an old family friend.

"Why here Double Dee?" Marie asks as he opened the door to the shop.

"I was planning on surprising you, but remember how you said that my hair would look better if you could have cut it to make it even? Well I asked my parents last night and they are fine with me getting it cut to look better." He says telling her why they are at the barber shop.

As they enter the shop a bell goes off and an older gentleman in a white barbers jacket and salt and pepper hair looks up at them from behind the counter with an old register on it. "Eddward my boy! It's good to see you!" The older gentleman says with excitement in his voice.

"Hello Uncle Chuck." Edd says smiling at him.

"I'm surprise to see you, your folks haven't made an appointment with me." Chuck says walking around the counter.

"Yes well Mother and Father are letting me manage more of my life." Edd says as he shakes Chucks hand.

"Good good, so who is this lovely vixen?" Chuck asks looking over at Marie and smiling at her.

"This is Marie, my girlfriend." Edd says introducing Marie to him.

"Girlfriend huh? Damn it seems like only yesterday your parents were bringing in this little boy in for his first haircut. Now look at you my boy you're all grown up." He says patting Edd on the back.

Marie had been holding back a laugh since they walked in. "It's nice to meet you." She says still holding back a laugh.

"You too Little Mrs. So what is the plan for today Eddward? Three inches off like normal?" Chuck asks walking over to one of the barber chairs.

"Actually I want it evened out so it hangs at the same length." Edd says as he pulls off his hat and sits down in the chair.

"Ok, so with it parted down the middle it's going to come up to here." Chuck says holding part of Edd's hair between his index and middle finger.

It was a little shorter than Edd would have liked, but he knew it would grow back. "That's good." He says nodding to Chuck.

"Alrighty then." Chuck says swinging the apron meant to keep hair from getting onto your clothes over Edd.

Edd had left his messenger bag with Marie who had taken one of the waiting seats in the corner next to a window and with a quick look through his bag she had found his IPhone. Not wanting to play games at the moment she looks through his phone and finds a day planner app that has various assignments from school along with people's birthdays in it. Skipping ahead a few months she comes upon August and selects the eighteenth and sets a reminder that reads "Marie's birthday, buy her flowers and candy" then returned to the right week before closing the app.

"Heh, he is going to love that." She says laughing at her own mischief. Pushing the home button she sees the contacts app. "Might as well fully invade his phone." She says as she opens the app. His list of contacts in his phone was really short. He had the other kids in the cul-de-sack, his parents cell's and their work numbers and a bunch of emergency numbers and one she didn't expect to see. It's perfectly normal for a boyfriend to have his girlfriend's number in his phone, but with how little he seems to use it she didn't expect to see Marie Kanker in his contact list.

"This is a cute surprise." She says touching her name to see what information he has listed for her. Other than her name all he had listed was Park and Flush for her address.

"It's not like I told him any of this stuff." She says seeing what little information he had on her. "But that is an easy fix."

She punches in her full address and then the adds the phone number to the phone in her trailer.

"There we go, now he can get ahold of me if he ever needs to." She says looking over the information she put into his phone.

"Oh!" She says thinking of two more addition to her contact page. She first adds 3 to the beginning and end of her name then makes the picture for the contact the one she took several days ago. Looking at her finished handiwork she lets out a little laugh.

"Having fun?" Edd asks walking over to her.

"I am, look." She says holding the phone out for him to see.

Edd takes the phone and sees that she has updated the information he has on her in his phone. "Would you look at that, thank you Marie." He says looking up from his phone. "So what do you think?" He asks pointing to his hair.

She stands up and leans her head from side to side then runs her hand through his hair. "It's a bit short, but I still think you look handsome." She says smiling.

"I had hoped you would like it." He says happy that she likes his hair cut.

Edd then pays Chuck then thanks him before Marie and him leave the shop.

"I didn't know you had an uncle here in town." Marie says as they start their walk to the cul-de-sack.

"Oh he is not my biological uncle, I just call him that seeing as I have known him since I was around six."

"Ah I see now, that's cute of you by the way."

Shortly after Edd and Marie arrived at his house Ed and Eddy had shown up.

"Hello Ed, Hello Eddy." Edd says greeting his friends when he opened the door to let them in.

"Hey man." Edd says walking into the house.

"Hello Double Dee." Ed says following Eddy in.

"If you guys want to head into the living room I will grab you some soda cans." Edd says closing the door.

"Ok man." Eddy says as him and Ed head into the living room. Edd had forgotten to tell them that Marie was going to join them so they were a little surprised to see her sitting on the couch.

"Yo." Marie says when they spot her.

"Oh uh hey." Eddy says with surprise to see her.

"Double Dee didn't tell you I was going to be here, did her?" She asks leaning back.

"No he didn't." Eddy says. Eddy was not expecting to see Marie at Edd's, but he didn't really care if Marie was there or not.

"Yeah, I'm having him help me with my school stuff too. You know Double Dee, at this rate you could start charging for your help." She says spotting Edd walking into the room.

"That wouldn't be a very nice thing to do." Edd says carrying four cans of soda and a package of cookies.

"Yeah I guess you're right." Marie says scooting over so Edd could sit down next to her.

"Ok gentlemen and lady, let us get started on our homework." Edd says setting the soda cans and cookies down on the table.

As they worked on the math problems Edd would stop and look over what everyone has done and would make suggestions on what they needed to do to get the right answer. At first Marie needed just as much help as Ed and Eddy, but she would require less and less help as they worked. She was enjoying doing her homework with Edd and him teaching and explaining the problems to her.

After an hour or so Eddy closes his English book and says; "Ok, I'm done with this." And stands up.

"But Eddy, we are not finished." Edd says trying to stop Eddy from leaving

"I'm done for now man, my brain can't take any more of this stuff, you coming Lumpy?" Eddy says grabbing his backpack off the floor and looking at Ed.

"Yes sir Eddy." Ed says getting up and following Eddy.

Edd knew he couldn't change his friends minds. "Alright then, just promise me that you will work on the rest sometime tonight."

"Yeah yeah, sure sure." Eddy says walking out if the room.

"I'll be right back Marie." Edd says following his friends out of the room to set them out the door.

Trying to be helpful for Edd Marie picks up Eddy and Ed's empty soda cans off from the floor and closes up the package of cookies. She then gets up off the couch to stretch and walk around while she waited for Edd to come back. Walking around the room she sees a picture of Edd and his parents from when he was still little. She could see the resemblances between Edd and his dad, they have the same colored eyes and hair.

"He is going to look really good when he gets older." She says looking at the picture.

"I don't think they are going to finish their homework." Edd says walking back into the room.

"That's their loss then." She says turning around as sees he's sat back down on the couch.

Edd was about to respond to her but lost his train of thought when she jumped on him and pinned him to the couch and kisses him.

"Sorry Muffin, I couldn't resist any longer." She says breaking the kiss. "And thank you for all your help."

"You're welcome Cupcake and you never were one to be patient when you wanted something." He says before she returns to kissing him.

"Mom I'm home." Ed says opening the door.

"Welcome back Ed." His mom says from the kitchen

"Will dinner be ready soon?" Edd asks walking into the kitchen.

Laughing she says; "Yes dear, could you go and get your father and sister for me pleases."

"Yes ma'am." He says then turns and walks out into the hall.

He found his sister in the living room working on her own homework and his dad was in his office working on his own work. And a few minutes later the whole family was sitting down to eat dinner.

"Oh so Ed I ran into your friend Nazz's mother today." Ed's mother says as she served stew into a bowl for his dad.

"Oh?" Ed says not sure why she is bringing this up.

"Yes, she told me that your school is having a dance tomorrow night." She says as she continues to serve stew to the others.

"Yeah Eddy told me about that." He says picking up his spoon to start eating.

"And I think you should ask that May girl to go with you." She says sitting down in her chair.

Ed froze and dropped his spoon into the bowl and his eyes go wide. "What?" He says not believing what she had said.

"I think you should ask May to go to the dance with you." She repeating herself.

"But I wasn't even planning on going, there is a monster movie marathon on TV that night." Ed says trying to get out of going to the dance.

"You need to go out and socialize with your friends more Ed." She says giving him a stern look.

"Yeah son, get out and mingle with the ladies." His dad says patting him on the back.

Sarah had been snickering to herself since their mom had brought up the dance. "Yeah Ed, I bet May would love to go with you."

With Sarah commenting on him taking May to the dance, Ed knew he had lost this discussion. "Ok Mom." He says accepting his defeat.


	15. Chapter 15: Friday

**I hope the final chapters coming out so fast isn't an annoyance for anyone, I just want to get them out to you as soon as I can.**

"It's finally Friday." Eddy says in another good mood. After he had left Edd's house the previous night he had gotten a phone call about an interview at the Burger King in the food court at the mall. It wasn't the dream job he had hoped for, but a job is a job and he had accepted the offer for the interview right after school. He was also glad that this was going to be the last day of dancing in gym class, not to mention that the first practice of the baseball team is early the next day.

"Soon everything will be back to some form of normality." He says pulling on his blue jeans on. But he knew things would never be the same as they once were. Edd dating Marie was the start of everything changing, which at first he couldn't stand the idea of but now he see that they really like each other and he's happy for them in his own way. Ed being friendly to May was another shock to him, Ed's fear of May was greater than his and Edd's combined. Yet several times throughout the week he's seen Ed talking and even laughing with her.

'Sometimes the impossible happens I guess.' He thinks as he pulls on a faded yellow t-shirt.

"No what is really the impossible is me being nice to Lee, and I did that yesterday." He says tying his shoes. "All it took to change everything was Sock Head spending a weekend alone with his stalker."

Ed wasn't mentally ready to talk to May in the morning so when he arrived at school and saw the blond girl in her grey sweater and red shorts he went straight into the school and hid in his home room class. And even at lunch he was avoiding her gaze, luckily she had sat with Lee so he didn't have to talk to her.

But May was an good at reading Ed and she knew something was wrong with him. So after lunch she chased after him.

"Hey Ed." She says walking up behind him. But he pretended to not hear her and started walking faster.

"Ed?" She asks picking up her own speed. Still he ignored her and walked faster.

Grabbing his green jacket and stopping him. "Ed, what's wrong?" She asks turning him around worried that something was seriously wrong.

"Oh uh… Hi, May." He says sweat forming on his neck.

"Ed, is something wrong?" She asks letting go of his arm.

"Um, no." He says not looking at her and twisting the edge of his red shirt.

"Did I do something to hurt our friendship?" She asks looking really sad.

"No." He says as he stopped playing with his shirt because he felt it rip.

"Then what Ed? I thought we were becoming friends and now you're acting like it was before, when you were scared of me." She says looking down at her feet.

"We are friends May, it's just… my mom *mutter mutter*." He says mumbling the last few words of his sentences.

"What was that?" May asks not catching what he said.

"My mom wants me to… ask you… to the um… *mutter*." He says as his face turns red.

"Ed if you need to say something, or ask me something you can." She says looking up at him and smiles.

"The dance…" He says his face getting redder than his shirt.

"What about it?" She asks confused.

"My mom… wants me, to ask…" He says scratching the back of his neck.

May was able to piece together what he was talking about. 'Does his mom want him to ask me to the dance? He must still be a little scared of me.' She thinks watching him. "Ed, do you want to go to the dance tonight? As friends?" She asks adding in the friends part to make it easier for him. Sure she would love to go to the dance with him as his date, but she guessed Ed was still afraid of all girls in the romantic way.

"As friends?" He asks looking at her for the first time.

"Yeah, as friends. Marie is going with Double Dee and I don't think Lee is going so I kind of don't want to go alone." She says Lying about Lee not going to the dance.

"That would… be um, cool." He says relieved that she only wants to go to the dance as friends.

"Cool, well I'll see you there then." She says waving and then walking away.

Eddy wasn't the only one that was glad that it was the last day of dancing, everyone in the class was glad for it to end. But when the coach came out of his office with a look of anger and annoyance on his face the kids started to worry that the school had ordered more dancing.

"So kids… it turns out this whole dancing thing was just a damn idea the administrators had." The coach says with anger on his voice.

"What!?" the whole class, Edd included forgetting his composure, says in shock.

"I know I know so I'm just going to give you all B's for the past two weeks." The coach says pinching the brim of his nose.

The whole class lets out noises of anger, regret and annoyance.

"Do whatever you want for the rest of class kids." The coach says turning around to walk back into his office. "I'm done with this BS, stupid waste of my damn time. I need a drink" He says walking into his office.

"Well this kind of sucks, I was starting to enjoy this." Marie says frowning and looking up at Edd dressed in his blue dress shirt and black tie with black dress pants.

"I was having fun as well, this was something I was actually good at in gym class." Edd says frowning as he looks down at his girlfriend dressed in a dark green t-shirt and ripped jeans.

"At least you'll get a better grade than you normally do in gym." She says pointing out one good thing he got from it.

"That is true, and I got to spend the time with you and didn't have to partake in any physical activities." He says as she takes his hand.

"Too bad next week we have to go back to normal gym class." she says as she laced their fingers together.

"The fun was never meant to last forever." He say looking around the gym seeing that most of the kids had sat down on the floor.

"Fun huh?" She says getting an idea and her wicked smile appearing on her face.

"Uh oh, what are you planning?" He asks seeing her trade mark smile cross her face.

"Come with me and you will see." She says pulling him towards the door of the gym.

Marie leads him out of the gym and down the hall to a door that I standing ajar.

"Why did you bring me to a broom closet? What are you thinking Marie?" Edd asks looking from her to the door.

"I want to have some fun." She says pulling the door open fully.

"Fun? Like the last time we were in a closet?" He asks as she pulls him into the tiny room.

"Don't worry, this isn't the same closet from before. We won't get stuck again." She says pulling the door closed behind her.

"Oh dear…" He says as she walks towards him her with her wicked smile on her face.

"Relax Double Dee." She says wrapping her hands around his neck.

"I'm nervous or anything, just worried that what you are planning will make us late for the next class." He says placing his hands on her hips.

"Good, I'd hate to do something you don't want to do." She says as she starts to play with his hair.

"Sometimes the things we don't want to do, that are the things we are glad we did in the end." He says before leaning down to kiss her.

A little while later the bell rings signaling the end of the fourth period of the day.

"Aw crud." May says breaking the kiss she was sharing with Edd at the sound of the bell.

"Funs over I guess." Edd says as his mind coming back to reality. During their short kissing session Marie had somehow stolen Edd's tie and was wearing it.

"Oh well." She says shrugging. "Should we get to class then?"

"We're influencing each other again." He says chuckling.

Chuckling herself. "Yeah we are." She says as she takes her hands off his neck.

Taking his hands off of her hips he says; "Well we don't want to be late."

"Yeah, let's go." Marie says not wanting to go to class.

Edd opens the door and see the hallway is full of students walking to their next classes and Marie and him were able to slip into the crowd unnoticed.

"I'll see you later Double Dee." She says leaning up to kiss him on the cheek.

"Bye Marie." He says kissing her on the cheek before she turned to walk to her next class.

"Hey Sock Head, where did you two sneak off to?" Edd knew it was Eddy talking because he was the only one that used that name for him.

"We went to enjoy each other's company in a less crowded area." Edd says spotting Eddy.

"So you two went to make out somewhere then?" Eddy asks raising an eyebrow.

Edd felt embarrassed that Eddy had figured out what him and Marie had been doing for the rest of the class.

"That's a yes, here's your bag by the way man." Eddy says tossing Edd his messenger bag as his face turn a deep shade of red.

"T-thank you Eddy." Edd says shuddering from his embarrassment.

"Sure thing man." Eddy says enjoying Edd's embarrassment.

*Ahem* "Well I must be getting to class, thank you again for grabbing my bag." Edd says clearing his throat.

"Sure think lover boy." Eddy says grinning as Edd walked away.

Edd had met up with Marie at his locker but they parted ways after they got out of the school.

"I need to take care of some things before tonight, so come get me in like two hours ok?" Marie says as she hugged Edd good bye.

"Ok, I'll see you then Cupcake." Edd says hugging her back.

After a quick kiss Marie says; "See you later Muffin."

"Why is this so hard?" Edd asks out loud looking into his closet. After he had gotten home he took a shower and was now trying to pick out something to wear to the dance. He had pulled out several of his dress shirts and held them up to himself before shaking his head and putting them back.

"Come on Eddward you a genius, why can't you just pick a simple shirt to wear?" He says putting a light blue shirt back. "Ok we'll just close our eyes and pick one and go with it."

He closes his eyes and moves his hand back and forth across the hangers holding his shirts.

"This one." He says stopping on a random shirt and taking it off the rack with his eyes still closed. He opens his eyes and sees he had pulled out an orange dress shirt.

"See Eddward, that wasn't so hard." He says taking the shirt off the hanger.

"Wait is talking to yourself a sign of intelligence or insanity?" He says stopping halfway through buttoning up his shirt.

"Either way I need to hurry up." He says looking at his alarm clock and seeing that it was almost time to leave to Marie's.

He quickly finishes buttoning his shirt puts on one of his black ties and then sits down on his bed to tie his shoes.

"Ok wallet, keys, watch, phone and hat." He says touching each item in his pocket then his hat on his head. Stopping in the bathroom to brush his teeth and give himself one final look in the mirror before grabbing his zip up hoodie from his room before leaving his house.

Walking over to the trailer park Edd starts to get excited about spending the evening with his girlfriend. So when he knocks on the door to the trailer he was jumping for joy on the inside, but when the door opens he is at a loss for words. Marie was dressed in a black button up shirt with its sleeves ripped off and a red anarchy A spray painted on the back along with her black mini skirt. She had put on some blue mascara, red lipstick and had brushed her hair till it shined. It was just a simple amount of makeup but to Edd she never looked more beautiful.

"You look amazing Marie." He says admiring how she looks.

"Thanks, I just made this shirt today. You like it?" She asks spinning around for him to see her work.

"Very punk rock Cupcake." He says as she finished her spin.

Marie was really happy that Edd liked how she looked and even started to blush when she saw that he was looking at her with a warm and caring smile.

"You charming as always." She says closing the door and walking down the few steps of the trailer.

"Thanks." He says smiling.

After giving him a quick kiss she says; "Well let's get going, May and Lee already left."

Edd holds his elbow out for her and says; "Allow me to escort you to the evenings dance."

"You are so freaking adorable Double Dee." She says putting her arm through his.

"It comes with being a gentleman remember." He says as they start their walk to the school.

When they arrive at the school they see that the gym had been decorated with balloons and banners with a stage set up against one wall with a DJ on it. Almost everyone from the cul-de-sack had arrived. Nazz dressed in a green sun dress was dancing with Kevin who had worn his lucky red shirt and black jeans. Rolf in his faded yellow t-shirt and work pants sat at a table drinking punch and talking to Johnny who was in his traditional grey shirt and blue baggy pants.

"I don't see your sisters." Edd says as he looked around the gym.

"They are over there in the corner, in the shadows." Marie says pointing at a corner of the gym where the lighting was low.

Edd looks at where she is pointing and sees Lee in her red polka-dot shirt and jeans. Next to her was May in a purple t-shirt and blue jeans. Lee had her arms crossed and was watching at the other kids in the gym. May however had her eyes glued to the door waiting for Ed to show up. She hoped that Ed hadn't gotten too scared and chose to stay at home and hide.

"May, go get me something to drink." Lee says to her.

"Yes Lee." She says getting up and walking over to the punch bowl. May was sad that Ed hadn't showed up and it showed.

"You ok May?" Nazz asks as she walked up to May.

"Hu what?" May asks turning to face her.

"I asked if you are ok, you look a little sad." Nazz says as she picked up two cups of punch.

"Ed said he was going to come, but he isn't here yet." May says picking up a cup for Lee.

"Don't worry about it May, sometimes those Ed's just can't manage time. And I think I spoke too soon." Nazz says looking at the door of the gym.

"What?" May asks not knowing what she is talking about, but then she follows Nazz's gaze to the door and sees that Eddy and Ed had just arrived.

Eddy was dressed in a yellow polo shirt with its collar popped up his stone washed jeans and his sunglasses.

"Alright man, I'm single and it's time to mingle." Eddy says looking around the gym.

Ed was not as nearly as excited as Eddy about the dance. His mom had made him wear a red short sleeve dress shirt and brown dress pants, she had also made him leave his jacket at home so he didn't have the security het got from it.

Even though he had told his mom that he was going to the dance and had agreed to go as friends with May he still didn't want to be there.

"Hey Lumpy look, your girlfriend is here." Eddy says elbowing Ed in the ribs then pointing at May who was standing next to Nazz with a smile on her face.

"She's not my girlfriend Eddy. She's just a friend… who's a girl." Ed says feeling embarrassed by what Eddy had said.

"I'm just joking Ed, I know you don't like her." Eddy says seeing his friend turning a little red.

The DJ had put a slow song on and all the couples were on the dance floor holding each other close and moving in slow little circles.

"So much has changed in such a short amount of time, hasn't it?" Marie asks her head resting against Edd's chest.

"It sure has, it's amazing what can come from something that has happened so many times in the past." Edd says holding her close to himself.

"Yeah, I won't say that I regret all the times me and my sisters planned and schemed to torment you and your friends, but I am sorry that it took so long to just be nice to you." She says looking up at him.

"Speaking of schemes, what were you and your sisters plan for us with those jaw breakers?" He asks remembering the last plan they had used against him and his friends.

Marie laughs. "I had forgotten about that whole thing, promise you won't get mad?"

"I could never get mad at you again Marie." He says smiling down at her.

"Well you see, we had put sleeping pills inside of the jaw breakers and were planning on imprisoning you three for the weekend. But they must have expired because you never got groggy, so we had to improvise. Who would have thought it would have turned out like this." She says telling him what her and her sisters had planned for them.

"The best laid plans of mice and men." He says glad that their plan had backfired like it did.

"Often go awry, but never to something a million times better than just having you for a weekend to myself." She says resting her head against his chest again.

"I'm impressed that you knew that line." He says as the song ends.

"I may have paid attention in English once or twice in the past few weeks." She says as a fast song came on.

The DJ had chosen to only play fast pop or rock and the occasional slow songs for the dance, so all the stuff the kids had learned in their two weeks of dancing in gym had been useless so far for the night.

"Ok kids it's time to have some fun, I want everyone out on the dance floor for this one." The DJ says into the microphone he has hooked up to the sound system.

"I wonder what this is all about?" Nazz asks from her seat next to Kevin.

"I don't know." He says shrugging his shoulders.

But they got their answer when the DJ spoke again. "Come on kids, everyone on the floor for the Chicken Dance."

"What! Why didn't anyone tell me that there was a dance of the chicken?!" Rolf asks getting excited.

"Yeah, it's kind of lame Rolf." Kevin says rolling his eyes.

"Nonsense, the chicken is anything but lame. Come friends we much honor the noble bird." Rolf says grabbing Kevin and Nazz by the wrists and pulling them onto the dance floor.

Across the gym Ed sat with Edd and Marie at the table Lee and May were sitting at before they had arrived. When May first approached Ed he was in almost full panic mode, but she had come prepared. She had gone out and rented the Batman Forever movie the night before and watched it before coming to the dance.

"Hey Ed, you were right. That Batman movie with Batgirl was awful, the costumes looks so bad." She says when she reached him.

And again, at the mention of his two favorite things his fear was replaced by excitement. "I know, the first two were so good." He says forgetting that he was at a dance and had promised to go with the girl in front of him.

They had walked over to Lee's table and had been there for the whole night talking about superhero movies.

But when the DJ had mentioned the Chicken Dance Ed got excited.

"No way!" Ed says when he heard the name of the dance.

"Come on guys let's go!" He says grabbing May by the wrist who grabbed Marie who grabbed Edd. All three laughed as Ed pulled them onto the dance floor.

"Eddy! You coming?" Ed yells at Eddy as he walked across the dance floor.

"Oh hell no." Eddy says shaking his head.

Eddy had asked every girl that wasn't with a guy if they wanted to "Get jiggy with it?" and had either been told straight up no, or was slapped then told no.

"Not having any game tonight?" Lee asks as Eddy sits down at the table next to the one she was sitting at.

"They just don't know what they are missing." He says crossing his arms.

"No I think they do know, and they want nothing to do with all this." She says gesturing to him.

"You just gestured to all of me." He says looking at her and raising his eyebrow.

"Exactly." She says pointing at him.

"Whatever." He says shaking his head watching his friends doing the Chicken Dance. Rolf had gotten mad when he had found out what the dance really was and had stormed off the floor yelling something about dishonoring the chicken. Kevin, Nazz, Edd and Marie were laughing as they did the dance with the rest of the kids. But May was having a hard time standing due to laughing so hard at Ed. Ed was really getting into the dance and was causing May to laugh.

When the song ended May was finally able to stop laughing and breath properly. "Ed." She says in-between breaths. "You are hilarious."

"I do love chickens." Ed says grinning from ear to ear.

"Could you get me a drink? I need to sit down." She says feeling a little dizzy.

"Ok May." He says as she walks over to the table Lee still sat at.

May lets out a long breath when she sat down at the table.

"Having fun sis?" Marie asks as her and Edd walked over to the table.

"Very much so." May says grinning.

Shortly after Ed had come back with a drink for May another slow song had come on and Marie and Edd had gone to dance together again.

Wanting some punch for himself but not wanting to go alone Eddy turns to Ed and says; "Hey Ed, let's go get some punch."

"Ok Eddy." Ed says getting up as Eddy did. They walk across the gym to the table that the bowl of punch was on.

"Hello Ed boys." Rolf says greeting Ed and Eddy.

"Hey Rolf." Eddy says as he picks up a cup of punch.

"You guys having fun?" Johnny asks walking up next to Rolf.

"I sure am." Ed says taking a drink from his cup.

"I'm not, this whole thing blows." Eddy says before taking a long drink from his own cup.

"That's cause you were shot down by every girl here." Johnny says grinning.

"Shut it Johnny." Eddy says.

"Don't hate him because he's right." Marie says as her and Edd walked over to the punch table.

"I have to agree with Marie Eddy, you appear to be the only one not having any fun. Well you and Lee." Edd says picking up a cup of punch.

"What is this, rip on Eddy day?" Eddy asks looking at everyone around him.

"Na man, that's not till tomorrow." Kevin says as Him and Nazz join the group around the punch bowl.

"Sorry Eddy, looks like you get to be the but end tonight." Nazz says giggling. "Hey you guys wanna go and get some pizza?" She asks the group.

"I'm game to get out of here." Eddy says wanting to leave the dance.

"I could go for a slice." Kevin says agreeing to the idea.

"Sure why not." Johnny says putting his empty cup down on the table.

"Pizza sounds go to me." Ed says holding up a thumbs up.

"Would you like to go for some pizza Marie?" Edd asks his girlfriend.

"I don't know, maybe I shouldn't leave my sisters alone." Marie says looking over at Lee and May sitting at their table.

Nazz didn't intend to do anything drastic or world changing this evening. 'Well it was bound to happen eventually.' She thinks looking at Marie who has a look of concern on her face. "Yo! Lee, May! You two coming for pizza?!" She yells across the gym.

"What are you doing Nazz?" Eddy asks looking at Nazz.

"It would be rude not to invite all of our friends." She says smiling and crossing her arms.

"You're counting them as friends?" Johnny asks.

"Yeah, Marie's Double Dee's girl, May and Ed here have become comic nerd friends. And admit it Eddy, you had fun with Lee yesterday." She says pointing at each of the Ed's as she named them off.

"Yeah but what about how they treated all of us in the past?" Johnny asks still not convinced.

"They may have been mean back then, but they're not so bad now a days, right Double Dee?" She says her smile growing.

"I have to agree, they have been fun to be around as of late." Edd says and feels Marie squeeze his hand.

"What were you yelling about?" Lee asks when she reached the group of them with May in tow.

Nazz turned to her and say; "We're going to get some pizza, you two coming?"

"Seriously?" Lee asks not believing Nazz.

"Yes seriously, you don't expect me to spend all night with just a bunch of guys? I need some chicks around to keep me entertained." Nazz lied about that, she can easily entertain herself with her guy friends.

Laughing May says; "Come on Lee, it will be fun."

"Sure why not, this place is a drag anyway." Lee says agreeing to the idea of leaving the school to get some pizza.

The group of kids ended up staying out well into the night. They had all walked to a pizzeria and got a couple of pizzas to go and hung out in the parking lot. The whole group had a lot of fun hanging out together. It was a bit strange at first for the other kids to have May and Lee around, but after Lee had made a few jokes at Eddy's expense they warmed up to the idea of her and May being around. May and Ed spent most of the night talking about comics and movies, mostly May would ask questions and Ed would answer them.

Yawing Nazz says; "Ok, I think it's time for Kevin to take me home."

"Yeah it is getting late, later guys." Eddy says turning and walking away from the group.

Lee didn't say anything to the group she just turned and started walking away and when she was several feet away she says over her shoulder; "May, you coming?"

"Yes." May says back to her sister then turned back to Ed. "Well, um by Ed." She says before giving him a quick hug before running after her sister leaving Ed dumbfounded.

"Ed, you awake in there Ed?" Johnny asks snapping his fingers in front of Ed's face.

"He is ok Johnny, I will take the Ed boy back to his home." Rolf says gabbing Ed by the arm and pulling him along. "Come Ed boy, it is time to return to your house."

"Well that was unexpected." Edd says watching Rolf lead Ed back home.

"Yeah." Marie says rubbing her arms as the cold night air starts to get to her.

"Here." He says putting his hoodie around her.

"Thanks Muffin." She says putting her arms through the sleeves.

"Shall I walk you home?" Edd asks as she zips up the hoodie.

"Yes please." Marie says grabbing his hand.

As they walked down the road Marie turns to Edd. "There is a good chance you are not getting this back." She says smelling his scent on it.

"You always get what you want in the end it seems." Edd says laughing.

Grinning she says; "Hey, I got you didn't I?" As they stopped at a light.

"And I am forever grateful that you never gave up." He says leaning down to kiss her.

The past two weeks had been the most life changing for Edd, he loves having Marie in his life as more than just his stalker and can't imagine life without her. 'This may just have been the start of all the changes.' He thinks as Marie wraps her arms around his neck returning the kiss. 'But as long as I have Marie with me I'm sure everything will be great in the end.'

The End.

**This is the end of the story but I have an epilogue chapter after this one as the official end of the Fan Fic.**

***reposted cause I forgot one word and it was an important one.***


	16. Chapter 16: The Epilogue

It's been over two years since Edd and Marie spent that weekend together inside the school, and are still together happier than ever. They have made a lot of great memories over the years. Like the night him and Marie were brought home by the police when his car had ran out of gas coming back from a date night day in December. Or how He was voted most likely to succeed in the year book, he's also set to be the class valedictorian, and Marie had been voted most likely to end up in prison. Which was a big laugh between Edd and Marie, but this night just might be the one they remember the most.

Edd had spent the past half hour fussing over how he looked in the mirror. He's finally retired his old ski hat he's always wore letting his long black hair fully show. Marie and his parents were both happy to see that he's letting his hair show completely.

"So what did you do with my button?" Marie had asked the morning he had chosen to forgo his hat.

"Don't worry, I have it here for you." He said taking it out of his pocket.

She took it from him and looked at it. "You know, I think this still looks better on you." She said before attaching it to the strap of his messenger bag. "There we go, still a bit of a bad boy." She had said grinning at her work.

"Eddward, are you ready yet?" His mother yells up at him from down stairs.

"I'm almost ready." He yells back down to her.

"Well hurry up dear, you shouldn't keep Marie waiting for you." She yells back at him.

"Ok Mother." He says turning to look back in the mirror.

A few minutes later Edd walked down the stairs finally happy with how he looks.

"Oh look at our son Dear, he looks so handsome." His mother says as her and his father watch him walk down the stairs.

"Yes he does Honey." His father says placing his hand on her back.

"Thank you Mother, Thank you father." Edd says as his stomach starts to turn.

"Not nervous are you Son?" His father asks when he sees the look on Edd's face.

"I am a little, I only get one senior prom and I want this to be perfect for Marie." Edd says answering his father.

"I'm sure you two are going to have a wonderful night." His father says putting his other hand on Edd's shoulder.

"Make sure to get a picture of the both of you for us." His mother says holding a white box out for him.

"Thank you Mother, and I will." Edd says taking the box from her.

"Have a good night Son." His father says patting Edd on the shoulder.

When Edd arrived at Maries his nerves had calmed down and he was feeling normal. He knocks on the door and it is soon answered by the Kanker sisters Mother.

"Evening Edd." She says when she saw Edd.

"Good evening to you too Mrs. Kanker." Edd says returning her greeting.

"Come on in, Marie isn't quite ready yet." She says standing to the side to let him in.

"Thank you Mrs. Kanker." He says walking into the trailer.

As Edd waited by the door for Marie he recalls the first time he had met Marie's mother. She had in fact asked him lot of questions. She had wanted to know: Where he works, how old he is, what his plans are for after school and how his grades in school are. After Edd had answered all her questions she had apologized for all of them, she just wanted to make sure he was a good guy and her daughter wasn't dating some bad kid. She wants her daughters to find guys unlike their dads.

When Edd sees Marie walking down the stairs his heart skips a beat. Marie still has her hair dyed blue and it covering her right eye. She was dressed in a royal blue strapless dress with blue mascara and red lipstick on. She also had his old hoodie he had let her wear one night, he never did get it back.

"You look beautiful Marie." He says when she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Thanks Double Dee, you look handsome yourself." She says happy that her new dress had taken his breath away from him.

Edd was dressed in a black suite with a white dress shirt and his favorite tie. For their first Christmas Marie had given him a black tie with little white skulls on it. He loved it and wears it all the time.

"Oh, here this is for you." He says opening the white box revealing a blue flower corsage he had bought for her.

"Oh, thank you Double Dee." She says her face lighting up as he put it on her wrist.

"Ok you two, time for a picture so I can show your grandfather." Marie's mother says coming out of the living room holding a camera.

"Oh, would you be able to take one for my Mother Mrs. Kanker?" Edd asks pulling out his IPhone and quickly pulled up the camera app before holding it out to her.

"Sure thing Edd." Marie's mother says taking his phone. "Ok stand against the wall and I'll get the pictures."

After a few pictures Edd and Marie were outside and Edd was unlocking the passenger side door of his old green car for her.

"So have your sisters already left?" Edd asks opening the door for her.

"Yeah they left a while a while ago." Marie says as she got into the car.

"I'm sorry I took so long, I just wanted everything to be perfect for tonight." He says getting into the driver's seat.

"It's ok, we can just be fashionably late." She says as he starts the car.

As Marie and Edd walk into the Peach Creek convention center they spot Sarah and Jimmy running the ticket table. After several failed attempts to woo her, Sarah finally gave Jimmy a chance to take her out on a date earlier in the year.

At the end of the night Jimmy had given her a kiss when they reached her front door. It wasn't her first kiss but she'd never gotten a kiss like it before. It was a kiss from someone that truly cared and loved her, unlike the few boys that she had gone on dates with that wanted stuff in return.

After the date Sarah and Jimmy had started dating and she had completely forgotten about Edd and her crush.

"Hello Double Dee and Marie." Jimmy says from behind the table.

"Good evening Jimmy, good evening Sarah." Edd says as he pulled out his wallet to get his and Marie's tickets out.

Holding the tickets out to Jimmy Edd asks; "So how many others have shown up?"

"Oh most of your classmates have already shown up." Jimmy says taking the tickets from him and marking them down on his list.

"Here are your king and queen ballots, if you could just write down the name of who you think should be prom king and queen and then place them inside this box we will tally up the votes and the principal will announce the winners later tonight." Sarah says holding out two slips of paper to them.

"Thank you you two, have a good night." Edd says as he takes the slips then hand one to Marie.

"You too." Jimmy says he takes Sarah's hand with his causing her to blush a little.

'Took them long enough.' Marie thinks as they write down their nominees for king and queen.

Inside the room set up for the prom Edd and Marie spot the first of their friends. With a smile on her face a mile long May had her arms around Ed's waste, being too short to reach his neck, as they danced. Ed had grown feeling for May a while ago but his fear of all girls kept him from asking May out and only recently had they started dating. May has gone full nerd since becoming friends with Ed and it was at the midnight showing of Superman vs Batman that Ed finally kissed her when he brought home from the Lemon Brook theatre starting their relationship.

"That was so amazing Ed, thank you for taking me with you tonight." May had said from the passenger seat of Ed's rust red car.

"I couldn't go without you May, you're my comic buddy." Ed said grinning.

"Well, good night." May said as she pulled on the door handle to get out of the car. But the door didn't budge. "Um, Ed the door is stuck." She said trying the handle again.

"Oh it does that sometimes, I just have to open it from the outside." He said opening his own door.

Ed walked around to her side of the car and pulls on the handle and the door swings open and May tumble out of it.

He was able to catch her before she hit the ground. "Thanks Ed, I guess I was sitting wrong." She said as he helped her stand up.

"No problem, did I tell you that I like your shirt." He said letting go of her and looking at her black t-shirt with a big yellow Batman symbol on it.

"Thank, I bought it specially for tonight." She said smiling up at him.

"If you had told me that you were going to wear Batman I would have worn one of mine instead of my Superman shirt." He said looking down at his blue t-shirt with a big red Superman logo on it.

"I don't know, I think it still works." She said looking from her shirt to his.

"Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." Ed said scratching the back of his neck.

"Yeah, tomorrow." May said before giving him a hug.

Hugs at the still made Ed feel a little nervous but not because it was May, but because it was a girl in general. But this time he didn't feel his nervous fear, he just felt a swelling in his chest and he didn't realize that he hugged her back.

Still hugging him May had looked up smiled and said; "The stars look pretty tonight."

"Yeah." He said looking at her not that sky.

Not knowing it he had leaned down to her. "Ed…" She had said standing up on her tippy toes to get closer to him.

"May…" He had said before their lips connected.

After they broke the kiss they had stat on the roof of Ed's car talking about them and if Ed was ok with what happened and what the kiss had meant. And an hour later May was grinning from ear to ear when she entered the trailer and rushed up to her and her sisters room to tell them what had just happened and what had finally happened.

With the help from Marie May had made her prom dress, just like Marie's, out of black material with yellow batman symbols and her and Ed loved it. Not to mention that it matched the tie Ed had chosen to wear with his black suite.

"Hey guys." Marie says as her and Edd walked over to Ed and May.

"Hey sis, I was wondering when you would show up." May says as her and Ed stop dancing.

"We had chosen to be fashionably late tonight." Marie says sticking to her idea about why they were late showing up.

"Fashionably late? That sounds like Double Dee talking." May says raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, what can I say I've gotten cultured." Marie says grinning.

"Any sign of Eddy?" Edd asks looking at Ed.

"Or Lee?" Marie adds to the question.

"Their over there." Ed says pointing across the room.

Looking at where Ed is pointing they see Eddy in a purple suit talking to Lee in a red dress, again like Maries and Mays. Eddy and Lee had built a friendship of constant ripping on each other and everyone thinks it's their own way of flirting. Eddy however didn't think of it as flirting, he just thought he was goofing around.

But after a Party that Kevin had thrown a month ago where after quite a few beers Eddy and Lee had ended up in a closet making out, and things have become awkward between them. But Eddy still asked her to go to prom with him, as friends of course.

"So, you having fun?" Eddy asks scratching his neck.

"Eh, it's alright. I don't see why my mom made a big deal about this whole thing." Lee says crossing her arms.

"Yeah this isn't all that fun." He says spotting Ed pointing at him.

"Hey I like this song, are you going to asks me to dance?" Lee says recognizing the song that just came on.

"Oh yeah, you want to?" Eddy asks her pointing with his thumb at where the other kids are dancing.

Out on the dance floor Eddy felt his heart start to race and his palms start to sweat as he held Lee. Looking up at her and says; "You know, you are the only person I've ever met that can match my wit."

"I do enjoy the fun I have at your expense." She says grinning causing his heart to beat faster and his face turns a little red.

Closing his eyes then taking a deep breath to prepare himself for the real reason he had asked her to be his date for the prom. He opens his eyes, looks at where her eyes are covered by her hair and says; "I can't believe I'm asking this, but do you want give us a shot?"

"And by that you mean?" She asks tormenting him but knowing what he meant.

"You never make things easy." He says letting out a chuckle.

"Hay, I wouldn't be your girl if I didn't." She says giving him his answer to question.

"No you never, wait what?" He says not fully catching what she said. She had stopped calling him her boyfriend and referring to herself as his girlfriend a long time ago.

"I thought after our fun at Kevin's it was already clear." She says her grin growing bigger.

"But we were both drunk and didn't know what we were doing." He says shocked.

"You were drunk Eddy. I don't drink, so I knew exactly what I was doing when you grabbed my arm and pulled me into the closet." She says as they stop dancing.

"You little, I should have known you had a plan." He says laughing.

"Hey I'm a Kanker, we always have a plan." She says leaning down to give him his first kiss as a couple.

Edd and Marie had also gone out onto the dance floor when the song came on. Marie had been looking forward to this night for the past couple of weeks, but something had been eating away at her. Graduation was just around the corner now and she had been worrying about her and Edd's future. She knew that with how smart he is he could get into any school he wanted to but she hadn't even applied to any herself.

Edd was able to tell something was wrong with her when he looked down at her and saw the blank stare she had on.

"Everything ok Marie?" He asks worried that something was wrong.

"You could go anywhere in the country for school Double Dee, and I know its super selfish of me but I don't want you to go." She says burying her face into his chest.

"Well I was going to wait till I got a letter of acceptance to tell you, but I'm choosing to go to the Lemon Brook Community College." He says lifting her head up gently by her chin.

"Why would you choose there?" She asks puzzled that he is choosing a local community college over a bigger school.

"I don't want to be apart from you Marie, not even MIT could take me away from you." He says as they stopped dancing.

"But you're too smart for just community college." She says feeling like she's costing him the biggest opportunity of his life.

"That maybe be true, but I could never leave you." He says as he starts to corset her face.

"But what about your parents? What do they think of you doing this?" She asks worried about what they must think of all this. Edd's parents have grown love Marie over the past few years and have even made her feel like part of their family. But if they knew he was giving up on a great school for her they'd probably hate her for it, and she doesn't want that.

"I have yet to inform them of my decision on schools." He says as the worried look on her face grows.

"You'd risk a great future and the wrath of your parents just for me?" She asks feeling tears start to forum in her eyes.

"I love you more than anything Marie and a life without you near me would be anything but great, or even worth it." He says wiping a tear from her face.

Marie had been in love with Edd since shortly after they started dating. But she had wanted him to be the first one to say it in the relationship, so she waited till he had told her that he loved her first before telling him that she did as well. And every time he'd say it she felt like it was the first time he had said it and her heart would turn to putty.

"You've gotten stubborn over the years." She says blinking the tears away. The way he had said it and with the certainty he had in his voice made her feel better about his decision to stay instead of leaving Peach Creek for school.

"I think that's your doing." He says smiling at her.

"So does that mean you're going to stay with your parents then?" She asks wanting to know more about his plans.

"Well Mother and Father have already agreed to pay part of the rent for an apartment in the city of whatever school I had chosen, so I guess I will be getting an apartment in Lemon Brook." He says glad to see that she isn't upset anymore.

"Oo, an apartment all your own, you know I'll be visiting a lot then." She says grinning.

This was the topic Edd had spent several nights thinking over and was one of the reasons he took so long getting ready earlier in the night. Remembering the pep talk he gave himself in the mirror he says; "Well, you don't have to just come visit."

This shocked Marie, not only because it's a big move forward in their relationship but by how forward he was about it. "Are you asking me to come live in sin with you? You really are a bad boy." She says hiding her shock behind a joke.

He laughs saying; "You've influenced me into one and "Living in sin"? That sounds like something I would say." Her sense of humor was one of the many things he has come to love about her.

"Hey you have influenced me too, thanks to you my grades are up and I haven't ditched school in over a year." She says shrugging.

"So would you like to? I know it's a big step and it's still several months down the road. I'll understand if you don't want to, Lemon Brook is a bigger city with all kinds of new places and people" He says asking her again.

"I don't know Double Dee. Yes I would love to, but I couldn't leave my sisters alone." She says looking down and her smile falling off her face.

"They are not alone Marie they have Ed, and Eddy." he says looking over at Lee leaning down kissing Eddy.

She looked up at him curious as to what he meant, then followed his gaze. "Oh my god! May! You owe me twenty dollars!" She yelled at her sister.

"What? Why? No freaking way!" May says looking where Marie is pointing.

While they all were talking Principal Walrts had come out onto the stage and had announced that the prom king and queen were Kevin and Nazz. It was no real surprise to the kids at the prom, Nazz was the most popular girl in the school and captain of the cheer team and Kevin was the schools all star athlete being the best at every sport he joined the team of.

Nazz has become good friends with all three Kanker's and has even gotten May on the cheer team, though she'd miss out on practices if they are on the same day as the release of a new superhero movie. She liked having real girlfriends even if they are not all that girly.

"Kev look." She says pointing at Lee and Eddy kissing.

"Well I'll be, who would have thought all three of them would fall for their tormentors." Kevin says putting his arm around Nazz for their king and queen picture.

"Life is funny like that." She says smiling as the school photographer took their picture. 'It's hard to believe that so much came from just one weekend.' She thinks as the kids cheer and clap for her and Kevin. 'And I bet this all is just the beginning for those six.'

My final thoughts.

And there we have it the end of A Weekend Alone. I never thought it would get this long when I started writing down the ideas for this on a road trip, or that so many people would read it. I originally just wanted to write a short story about Edd and Marie, but I kept getting ideas for things to add and it just snowballed into sixteen chapters and 110+ pages long on the word doc. It feels strange that its over really, several mounts spent working on this and now its done. But in the end I am happy with how the story turned out, I hope I did the characters justice and that you readers are happy with the ending too.

Looking back I wish I hadn't chosen to explain everyone's clothes every day, it started out fun but became a chore in the later chapters and I regret it and doubt I will ever make the choice to do so again. But it was still fun thinking up "punk rock" styles for Marie.

I regretted at first making the Marvel comic reference and locking out those comics in Ed and May's story line, because my knowledge of DC comics spans little past the Batman and Superman stuff. But I think I did ok in hiding my lack of knowledge.

I am calling this story completed, but I might come back to it later for some holiday stuff or maybe even something about Edd and Marie living together in Lemon Brook.

I couldn't think of a better send off for Edd and Marie, but this does leave an opening if I want to come back to this story so it worked out. Their relationship was basically perfect from the get go and there was no need for anything to be resolved in the end like with Ed and May or Eddy and Lee.

I liked Ed and May's story over Eddy and Lee's, it just seems like more of an Awwww story with a warm fuzzy feeling ending than with Eddy and Lee who are just so much the same that they would be drawn to each other.

But for now I am taking a break from writing to do some research about the next fanfic I want to write, IE watching a lot of cartoons, and to let my brain rest and to get caught up on some video games.

Thank you to every single one of you that has read my story and left comments saying you liked it. You made this a labor of love and every positive word pushed me to keep writing and to give up on some sleep some nights to work on this.

So until next time, so long and onward for science!

Linken88.


End file.
